^>^. 



' -, ^. 



oo^ 



'lA v^ 






z 9^/^ 



'. .t 



^-' 



■^^%^ -^ ^V^^c^JH'' 



" ^^^^ ^ , , , , ^. * .0 ^. ^ 

^0 O 



vA' 












Kx>;r — 



'^ : .^- ''-r- ', ^, 



''p 



■0- K 



., -i^ 



<"^f 






,0 



^'-r. 



'/^ V- 






..^^ ^^ 



,0 o 



o 
-5,- 



.'^■^ c "-^ ^ '■ 



oSr' 



"^ 



,^^^" 



iV -s- 



Oo 



oV 



.-.'? 



><< 



'*«■ 













3- N 



V^- 



-/^ ^ » o s ^ ^ 






^^' ./-. 



ci-. ' 



%' 






o>- 



%.^ 
.^^ ^^- 



'/ v-' 



» r-jr<Vv ^ O 













.•,^^ 



^-^^^ 






VJS^ c " ^ ' 










\' 



.00^ 






^0 






* 8 I \ 



./■, 






.i^ 




^ > ° !? . - - 










« V5fe,, 









1 B , 



PRACTICAL TANNING: 

A HANDBOOK 



MODERN PROCESSES, RECEIPTS, AND 
SUGGESTIONS 



TREATMENT OF HIDES, SKINS AND PELTS 
OF EVERY DESCRIPTION, 

INCLUDING 

VARIOUS PATENTS RELATING TO TANNING, WITH SPECIFICATIONS. 



LOUIS A. FLEMMING, 

AMERICAN TANNBB. 



SECOND EDITION, IN GREAT PART RE-WRITTEN, THOROUGHLY REVISED AND MUCH ENLARGED. 



ILLUSTRATED BY SIX FULL-PAGE PLATES. 



PHILADELPHIA : 

HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO., 

INDUSTRIAL PUBLISHERS, BOOKSELLERS AND IMPORTERS, 

810 Walnut Street. 

LONDON : 

CROSBY LOCKWOOD AND SON, 

7 Stationers' Hall, Coukt, Lxjdgate Hili.. 

1910. 



^ 



^^3 



^^r 



Copyright, by 

HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO., 

1910. 



Printed by the 

WICKERSHAM PRINTING CO. 

Ill to 117 East Chestnut Street, 

Lancaster, Pa., U. S. A. 



CCI.A259772 



P 






/S7 ^dZ 



PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 



In presenting to the Leather Industry and to the dealers in, and the 
consumers and inspectors of, hides, skins, pelts and leather, as well as 
to the dyers of leather, this new, revised, enlarged, and systematically 
arranged edition of his Practical Tanning, the author has this to say, 
for himself and for his book : 

Like its predecessor, this volume embraces the results of his own ex- 
perience, his study and research, and the experiences of the many 
practical men with whom it has been his good fortune to come into 
association and consultation ; and the book has been so carefully and 
thoroughly revised throughout, as practically to be considered as hav- 
ing been rewritten. Nothing whatever has been incorporated into it 
that has previously appeared in any American or English book — his 
own alone excepted — and it is intended to present the newest and best 
American practice of this now great and progressive industry. He has 
diligently consulted the leading American trade papers and v/here it has 
been found possible, in the text, given due credit; but he would here 
acknowledge his special obligations to The Shoe and Leather Reporter. 

This volume is, as its title implies, essentially a practical treatise, 
and the details of that practice are given with such clearness and pre- 
cision, such absence of confusing technicalities, as is believed to de- 
mand nothing more . As a typical illustration of this thoroughness , the 
author would refer to the section devoted to Sheepskins. There will 
be found complete directions for handling these skins from the time 
they are received by the tanner or the wool-puller until they are turned 
out as finished leather. 

In the Appendix will be found descriptions of various processes of 
tanning, unhairing, coloring and finishing skins and leather that have 
been recently patented by their inventors. These processes are given, 
not with the idea of advertising or recommending them, but rather to 
enable the reader to learn of processes that are a little out of the or- 
dinary practice ; in which new materials are used or old ones employed 

(v) 



vi PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 

in new ways. Some of these processes[^are undoubtedly of value, while 
the value of others may bejquestioned. However, to read them, one 
and all, will, it is believed, add to the tanner's knowledge of his art. 

The first edition of Practical Tanning having been received by the 
trade with such distinct favor ,^as"weirabroad as at home, it is believed 
that this one, so great an advance in value over its predecessor, must 
also prove a further help to the tanner, and a marked success generally. 

In conclusion he would state that the volume has been supplied with 
such a full table of contents, and such an exhaustive index as to render 
references to any subject or detail in it prompt, easy and satisfactory. 

L. A. F. 

Hillsdale, Michigan, April 4, igio. 



CONTENTS. 



SECTION ONE. 
The Manttpactuee oe Side Leather. 

PAGE 

Soaking green-salted hides; Most approved method of soaking; Object of the 

soaking process. ...... .... 1 

Effect of too long soaking on salted hides; Water for soaking; Softening hard 

water; Effects of careless soaking ........ 2 

Soaking dry hides; Unhairing sun-dried hides 3 

Methods of liming; Liming for upper leather; Starting the liming process . 4 

Washing the unhaired hides and after-treatment; Quantity of lime required . 5 

Sulphide of sodium process .......... 6 

Methods of bating; Bating with lactic acid ....... 7 

Bating with a bacterial bate ... "...... 9 

Commercial bates; Bating with chicken manure . . . . . .10 

The piclding process; Pickling with sulphuric acid and salt . . . .11 

Methods of splitting; Splitting out of lime . • 12 

Splitting out of sulphate of alumina and salt pickle; Splitting after tanning; 

Splitting out of acid pickle ......... 13 

Processes of chrome tanning for side leather; Process for acid-pickled grains . 14 

One-bath process for acid-pickled grains ....... 15 

Process for alumina-pickled grains; Processes for unsplit sides . . .16 
Mode of ascertaining when the hides are tanned; Eetanning; Washing and 

shaving ............. 17 

' Practical methods of coloring chrome upper leather; Dyeing with natural 
dyestufls; Light tan; Dark tan . . . . . . . . .18 

Ox-blood; Chocolate brown; Alizarine red-brown ...... 19 

Alizarine brown ; Mordant for aniline colors ....... 20 

Palmetto mordant; Peachwood-fustic mordant ...... 21 

Gambler mordant; Use of tartar emetic. ....... 22 

Dissolving aniline dyes; Titanium mordants ....... 23 

Dyeing chrome side leather black; With logwood and bichromate of potash, 24 
With logwood and titanium salts; With logwood and copperas; AVith log- 
wood and nigrosine ........... 25 

Fat-liquors for chrome side leather; Process of fat-liquoring . . . .26 

Receipts for fat-liquors for colored or black leather and for chrome side 

leather ............. 27 

(vii) 



Vlll CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Tat-liquors for heavy English or storm grain leather, for colored leather, for 
grained chrome leather, either black or grained, and for colored or black 

grain 28 

Fat-liquors for dull finished leather, for leather colored with basic aniline 
colors, and for heavy grain chrome leather ...... 29 

Fat-liquors for soft leather, colored or black, for chrome side leather, and for 
smooth glazed, boarded and dull finished leather . . . . .30 

Finishing chrome side leather .... .... 31 

Dull finish; Glazed finish; Boarded finish ....... 32 

Finishes for chrome side leather; For glazed and bright boarded finish; Dull 

.finish 33 

Gun-metal finish; For oil or storm-grain leather; Another finish for heavy 
grain leather ............ 34 

Finish for colored leather; Chrome side glove and mitten leather; Coloring 
for grain finish . . . . . . . . . . . .35 

Mode of producing light and darker tan colors and a yellow shade; Fat- 
liquor receipt ............ 36 

Finishing; Chrome bag and belt leather ....... 37 

White side leather; Tanning with sulphate of alumina; Pickling; Prepara- 
tion of the tan liquor .......... 38 

Fat-liquoring with acid fat-liquor; Finishing . . ... . .39 

White chrome leather; Treatment with flour; Preparation of a suitable fat- 
liquor; Finishing ........... 40 

Another mode of preparing good white leather; Chrome side patent leather; 
Pickling and tanning .......... 41 

Coloring and fat-liquoring . . . . . . . . . . 42 

Staking and finishing ........... 43 

Vegetable tanning processes for side leather; Material used for this purpose; 
Process of tanning; Tanning with hemlock and quebracho extracts . . 44 

Tanning with quebracho and palmetto extracts 45 

Tanning with palmetto extract ......... 46 

Tanning with gambler; Combination process of tanning 47 

Pressing and splitting; Ketanning processes ....... 48 

Retanning with gambler and sumac; Eetannage for hemlock-tanned leather . 49 
Retanning with palmetto extract, and in combination with quebracho; Addi- 
tion of bisulphide of soda to the retanning liquor; Clearing the grain with 
alum and salt ............ 50 

Coloring and finishing vegetable-tanned upper leather; Outline of the process; 
Application of fat-liquor .......... 51 

Manner of handling all kinds of combination-tanned sides . . . .52 

Fat-liquoring leather; Fat-liquor formulas ....... 53 

Stuffing for imitation kangaroo and dull printed sides; Fat-liquor for hemlock- 
quebracho and quebracho-palmetto tanned leather . . . . .54 

Fat-liquor for bright printed or boarded grains; Eeceipts for yellow flesh; Re- 
ceipts for blue flesh . . . . . . . . . . .55 

Finish for bright boarded grain leather 56 



CONTENTS. ix 

PAGE 

Finishing bark-tanned kanguroo side leather. . . . . . .57 

Preparation of a sig to be used on kangaroo sides, of a logwood liquor, and of 

a black or striker; Coloring side leather ....... 58 

Fat-liquor for colored Russia leather ; Process of preparing the sides for 

Russia leather with sumac. ......... 59 

Vegetable-tanned patent shoe tipping; Requirements of good strong tipping; 

Tanning tipping hides .......... 60 

Another retanning process ......... 61 

Preparation of the retan liquor, and of the fat-liquor; Manufacture of bag 

and case leather ........... 62 

Liming ............. 63 

Bating; Pickling; Tanning .......... 64 

Clearing and bleaching the grain ; Usual practice of bleaching leather . . 65 
Bleaching and coloring; Finishing rough leather ...... 66 

Preparation of the acid bath ......... 67 

Finishing; Receipt for waterproof linish for colored bag and case leather; 

Finish for colored and russet leather ........ 68 

Seasoning which gives a nice black luster that is lasting; Finishing imperfect 

grains into patent tipping; Retanning . . . ' . . . .69 

Fat-liquoring; Manufacture of Goodyear welting; Hides from which the best 

welting is made; Tannage suitable for welting ...... 70 

Bleaching to remove stains; Materials largely used as welting and their 

preparation ............ 71 

How to prepare hides for tanning into lace leather; Hides for lace leather; 

Preparation of the hides; Pickling ........ 72 

Tanning; Yellow lace leather; Method of making leather especially suitable 

for belt, shoe and leather laces . . . . ". . . . .73 

Another way to tan the leather ......... 75 

Fat-liquor for lace leather; Oiling and iinishing . . . . . .76 

Alum-tanned lace leather .......... 77 

Dubbing used to stuff the leather and mode of stuffing . . . . .78 

Old method of making lace leather; Preparation of lace leather that is soft 

and strong ............ 79 

Another composition for lace and whip leather; Stuffing alum- tanned hides, 

dried and moistened ........... 80 

Raw hide lace leather; Preparation of the tanning liquor; Another process . 81 
Other methods of making lace leather; Tawed lace leather . . . .82 

Picker leather; Liming .......... 83 

Bating; Tanning ............ 84 

Stuffing; Tanning and finishing splits; Source of splits . . . . .85 

Tanning splits ............ 86 

Retanning rough splits; Working splits into Goodyear; Softening and stuff- 
ing heavy splits ........... 87 

Stuffing for wax splits; Finish for the back . . . . . . .88 

Soap black; Flour paste 89 

Finishing splits into Goodyears, chair splits, etc. ...... 90 



X CONTENTS. 

SECTION TWO. 
The Manufacture or Sheepskin Leather. 
Soaking sheep pelts; Methods of removing the wool 



Formulas for depilatory liquors .... 

Liming after removal of the wool; Sulphide of sodium process . . .95 

. 96 
. 97 



93 
94 



for chrome tanning . 99 

. 100 

. 101 

. 102 

for this purpose . . 10.3 



Methods of drenching sheepskins . 

Another method; Drenching with bran . 

Pickling with sulphuric acid and salt . 

Pressing the grease from pickled sheepskins; Processes 

Tanning with sulphate of alumina and chrome liquor 

FoiTuula for preliminary tawing .... 

Manner of tanning pickled sheepskins . 

Dyeing chrome-tanned sheepskins black, and formulas 

Process of giving the skins a tannin mordant, and coloring the flesh sides blue 

and the grain sides black . . . . . . . . . .104 

Dyeing black and refinishing sheepskins that have been colored and finished; 

Fat-liquore for chrome-tanned sheep and lambskin leather. . . . lO-'i 

Methods of coloring chrome-tanned sheepskins; Mordant for aniline dyes; 

Tanning material most commonly used in dyeing sheepskins; Tan colors on 

sheepskins. . . ... . . . . . • . 108 

Chocolate-brown on sheepskins 109 

Brown on sheepskins; Anilines valuable in dyeing chrome-tanned skins. . 110 
Ox-blood or wine color on sheepskins . . . . . . . .111 

Dye for shoe and glove leather; Brown on shoe and glove leather . . .112 

Green on chrome sheep leather 113 

Yellow glove and mitten leather, and formulas for the purpose; Coloring 

chi'ome-tanned sheepskins after fat-liquoring; Preparation of the mordant; 

Formula for coloring 114 

Finishing black-glazed sheepskins; Clearing the grain; Formula for seasoning. 115 

Formulas for seasonings for glazed finish 116 

Good way to clear the grain of greasy matter; Seasoning for dull finish; Fin- 
ishing colored sheepskins; Formulas for seasonings . . . . .117 
Good seasoning for black glazed sheepskins; Glazed finish on colored sheepskins. 118 
Finishing sheepskin glove 'leather and various methods for the purpose. . 119 

Flesh-finished chrome sheepskins; Skins used for the pui'pose; Tanning the 

skins 120 

Treatment after tanning; Coloring and fat-liquoring 121 

Drenching and pickling sheepskins with formic acid ; Mixture of formic and 

lactic acids; Bran di-enching 122 

Mode of pickling; Pickling with acetic acid . . . . . . .123 

Sheepskins for jacket leather; Pressing to remove the grease; Tanning the 

skins. ............. 124 

Coloring and finishing; Formula for the finish; White sheep leather . . 125 

Preparation of the tanning liquor 126 

Sulphated oil or acid fat-liquor, and its use; Tanmng with alum and salt . 127 



CONTENTS. XI 

PAGE 

Preparation of a tanning solution; Another way to tan with alum and salt . 128 
^^^nother good way of tanning sheep and lambskins . . . . .129 

White chrome-tanned sheep leather; Pickling sheep and lambskins . . 130 
Tanning white sheep leather; Bleaching liquor ...... 131 

Treatment with flour; Fat-liquors for these skins 132 

Finishing chrome-tanned skins; White Napa leather, and modes of tanning it. 133 
Original process of tanning white Napa leather ...... 134 

Tanning with alum, sumac and oak bark; Preparation of the tanning liquor. 135 
Coloring black Napa leather; Use of direct blue paste for coloring the flesh 

side blue; Preparation of a good sig ........ 136 

Coloring alum-tanned leather; Preparation of a so-called nourishment . . 137 

Washing the skins for coloring; Chamois leather, and its production . . 138 
Oiling and beating the skins; Finishing processes . . . . .139 

Various methods of treating the skins . . . . . . . .140 

Coloring chamois skins, and a practical method for the purpose . . .141 

Bleaching chamois skins; Removal of the excess of oil; Prepar? an of the 

bleaching liquor ........... 142 

Preparation of sulphurous acid; Sheepskin-fleshers, and mode of tanning them. 143 

Tanning with basic alumina liquor; Fat-liquoring 144 

Tanning with ahmi, salt, egg-yolk, and flour; Chrome-tanned fleshere . . 145 
A process for sheepskin fleshers to be used in the manufacture of gloves, for 

bindings, etc. ............ 146 



. 147 
. 148 
. 149 
. 150 
. 151 
Receipt for tanning 



Vegetable-tanned sheepskins; Hemlock tannage . 
Most satisfactory way of tanning .... 

Use of oak liquors; Quebracho tannage 

Combination tannage . 

Modes of tanning ....... 

Sumac tannage; Sheepskins for upholstering pui-poses; 

sheepskins into what is called Spanish leather for furniture and automobiles. 152 
Methods of coloring vegetable-tanned sheepskins; Washing and sorting the 

skins; Good way to color the skins; Use of titanium-potassium oxalate in 

leather coloring . . . . . . . . . . .154 

Ih^eing the skins black . . . . . . . . . . .155 

Method of handling the skins for soft, black leather; Advantage of dyeing 

with logwood and titanium salts ........ 156 

Coloring with aniline dyes; Ox-blood ........ 157 

Oxblood on vegetable-tanned skins; Brown . . . . . . .158 

Red; Shades of tan, green, yellow, brown, etc. . . . . . . 159 

Treatment for dark greasy skins; Fat-liquoring . . . . . .160 

Seasonings for colored skins .......... 161 

Finish for embossed sheepskins; Methods of embossing; Skivers . . . 162 
Use of skivers; Drenches for the grains ....... 163 

Pickling liquor; Materials for tanning skivers and modes of tanning . . 165 
Finishing skivere . . . . . . . . . . . .166 

Roller leather; Qualities required of roller leather; Tanning the skins . . 167 
Tanning woolskins; Soaking, washing and scouring ..... 168 



XU CONTENTS. 



Tanning; Preparation of tanning paste . 

Bleaching; Degreasing ..... 

Tanning with gambier; Chrome-tanned woolskins 

Practical method for this pui"pose .... 

Paste for the flesh; Coloring .... 

Good shade of tan ; Tanning with alum, salt and hemlock extract 

Dyeing woolskins black ....... 



169 
171 
172 
173 
174 
175 
177 



SECTION THEEE. 
The Manufacture of Calf Leathers. 

Importance of the beamhouse work; Soaking of green-salted skins for chrome 

leather 179 

Benefit derived from the use of borax in the soaks; Danger in using old stale 

soaks 180 

Soaking dry skins; Importance of keeping the skin-substance intact . . 181 
Methods of liming and bating calfskins; Liming in arsenic limes . . . 182 
Preparing the skins with lime and sulphide of sodium; Various methods em- 
ployed in liming ........... 184 

New process of liming skins ^. ......... 186 

Bating or drenching; Bating with lactic acid; Bating with a fermented lactic 

acid bate 187 

Fermentative bating with lactic acid . . . . . . . .188 

Bating with bran ; Bating with manure . . . . . . . .189 

Pickling; Process of chrome-tanning; One-bath process . . . . . 191 

One-bath process with sulphate of alumina and sal soda. .... 192 

Two-bath process of tanning. . . . . . . . . .193 

How to color chrome-tanned calfskins; Preparation of the leather for the re- 
ception of aniline dyes; Application of the dyes. . . . . .194 

Washing the skins ........... 195 

Gambier and fustic mordant; Gambier mordant; Quermos extract mordant . 196 
Sumac mordant; Palmetto mordant ........ 197 

Clearing the grain and setting the color with tartar emetic; Receipts for ox- 
blood shades ............ 198 

Alizarine brown on chrome calfskins; Chocolate brown with dyewoods and 
aniline dyes ............ 200 

Light and dark tan shades; How to dissolve aniline dyes .... 202 

Process of coloring after fat-liquoring; How to dye chrome-tanned calfskins 
black; Dyeing with logwood and titanium salts ...... 203 

Dyeing with logwood and bichromate of potash ; Dyeing with logwood and 
copperas; Dyeing with aniline black ........ 204 

Fat-liquors for black and colored chrome-tanned sheepskins .... 205 

Oiling and drying the leather ......... 208 

Dampening and staking; Glazed finish; Border or box finish .... 209 

Smooth dull finish ; Seasoning for glazed finish ...... 210 

Gun-metal finish; Sea.soning for chrome-colored calfskins . . . .211 



CONTENTS. 



xm 



Calfskin glove and mitten leather; Sorting and liming the skins; Process of 
bating ......... 

Pickling the skins; Two-bath chrome system of tanning. 

Tan shades on glove and mitten leather 

Light yellow on glove and mitten leather 

Chrome wax calf leather; Skins for this purpose; Retanning 

Fat-liquoring ........ 

Blacking; Paste ........ 

Finish, and its preparation; Vegetable tannages for calfskin upper leather 
Gambler tannage ....... 

Dongola leather ........ 

Tanning with palmetto; Q.uebracho and palmetto tannage; 
nage ......... 

Qiiebracho and hemlock extracts tannage; Receipts for fat-, 
table-tanned calf leather ...... 

Giving two applications of fat-liquor .... 

Sumac mordant for colors ...... 

Titanium mordant for colors ...... 

Coloring and finishing of vegetable and combination-tanned calfskins; Prepar- 
ations for blue and yellow flesh ......... 228 

229 
230 
231 
232 
233 



Quebracho tan- 
liquors for vege- 



212 
213 
214 
215 
216 
217 
218 

219 
221 

222 

223 
225 
226 

227 



Dyeing leather upon the grain, and materials used .... 

Receipts for strikers; Dyeing with logwood and titanium salts 

Russet and fancy leather calfskins; Preparation of the skins for this object 

Bating, and materials employed for this purpose ..... 

Vegetable tanning processes; Tanning with quebi-acho extract 
Tanning with hemlock and quebracho exti-acts combined, and with quebracho 
and palmetto extracts; Fat-liquoring ........ 234 

Tat-liquors; Preparation for coloring ........ 235 

Coloring ............. 236 

Black leather 237 

Finishing; Bleaching hemlock-tanned skins; Light russet color on leather . 238 
Preparation of the bleaching liquor, and of the fustic liquor .... 239 
Dark msset color on leather .......... 240 



SECTION FOUR. 
The C^oiiOKiNG ajstd Tanning of India-tanned Skins. 

Use of India-tanned skins; Washing the skins ...... 241 

Importance of thorough washing ......... 242 

Coloring the skins ........... 243 

Dyeing the skins black ........... 244 

Black glazed finish; Receipts for seasoning ....... 245 

Smooth dull finish and receipt for seasoning; Finish for colored skins . . 246 
Various ways of finishing India -tanned skins; Retanning with chrome liquor. 247 
Finishing India-tanned leather into book-binding leather; Shaving and color- 
ing the skins . 248 



XIV CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Coloring to obtain marble effects ......... 249 

Giving grain or the morocco finish to the leather ...... 250 

Uses of the splits taken from India-tanned leather; Skins for boarded gi*ains. 251 
Ooze or suede leather; Properties and uses of this variety of leather; Skins 
suitable for the purpose; Methods used in finishing India-tanned ooze 
leather ............. 252 

Chrome leather from India-tanned kips; Eetanning and finishing this kind of 

leather . ' . . .253 

Washing the kips ............ 254r 

Coloring and finishing the leather; Patent tipping from India-tanned kips . 255 

SECTION FIVE. 
The Manufacture of Goatskin Leather. 

Soaking the skins; Loosening the hair; Liming ...... 257 

New process for liming goatskins; Bating; Essential qualities of goatskin 
leather ............. 259 

Bating with bird dung; Preparation of a chicken manure bate . . . 260 
Test for determining when the skins are bated ; Apparatus for bating . . 261 
Manipulation of the skins after bating; Bating \\dth formic and lactic acids . 262 
Bating with puerine; Pickling with acid and salt; Beamhouse process for cab- 
retta skins. ............ 263- 

Process of tanning goatskins; Tanning by the two-bath process . . . 265- 

Preparation of the second bath . 266 

Washing the skins 267 

Method of acid tanning different from the regular two-bath process . . 268 
Another patented method .......... 269 

Tanning with one-bath processes ......... 270 

Tanning with sulphate of alumina, sal soda and chrome liquor; Tanning with 
sulphate of alumina and chrome liquor . . . . . . .271 

Method of keeping skins for some time after they are bated .... 272 

Methods of dyeing goatskins black; Dyeing with logwood and titanium salts; 
Dyeing with logwood and bichromate of potash; Dyeing with logwood, 
acetic acid and nitrate of iron ......... 273 

Dyeing with logwood, permanganate of potash, and iron liquor . . . 274 
Dyeing with logwood and copperas; Processes of coloring chrome-tanned goat- 
skins; Most common method of coloring with aniline dyes .... 275 

Preparation of the skins for dyeing; Temperature of the coloring solutions . 276 
Sumac mordant; Garabier mordant ........ 277 

Fustic mordant; Palmetto mordant; Other mordants; Clearing the grain of 
grease ............. 278 

Dyeing with natural dyestufis; Light tan; Dark tan ..... 279 

Ox-blood shade; Chocolate brown; Dyeing with aniline dyes; Keceipts for 
some popular shades ........... 280 

Water for dyeing; Coloring after fat-liquoring with sulphonated oil . . 281 
Fat-liquors for colored and black goatskins ....... 282. 



CONTENTS. XV 

PAGK 

Receipts for fat-liquors ........... 283 

Oiling, drying and staking . " . . . . . . . . . 285 

Clearing the grain of grease and receipts for this purpose; Receipts for season- 
ings for glazed finish ........... 287 

Dull finish 289 

Processes for white goat leather; Tanning with sulphate of alumina . . 290 

Tanning with alum, flour and salt ........ 291 

Mocha castor glove leather; Liming, drenching and tanning the skins for this 

purpose ............. 292 

Treatment for colored skins .......... 293 

SECTION SIX. 
Chkome-Tanned Sole Leather. 

Most essential points to be observed in the manufacture of this leather; Se- 
lection of hides; Soaking the hides ........ 294 

Liming the hides ............ 295 

Bating; Pickling 296 

Processes of pickling with sulphate of alumina and salt, and with sulphuric 
acid and salt; Methods of tanning ........ 297 

Tanning hides pickled with alumina and salt ...... 298 

Tanning liquor for acid pickled stock; Fat-liquoring and water-proofing the 

leather; Chrome-tanned harness leather; Precautions in handling the hides. 299 
Liming; Bating; Preparation of chicken manure bate ..... 300 

Bating with lactic acid; Pickling; Processes of tanning .... 301 

Betanning ............. 302 

Blacking and stuflang; Preparation of the logwood liquor and of the stuffing. 303 
Finishing the leather; Chrome-tanned belt and strap leathers; Hides for this 
purpose; Tanning the butts ......... 304 

Fat-liquoring the tanned butts, and preparations for this puipose; Eetanning 
the trimmings ............ 305 

Strap leather; Beamhouse treatment and tanning; Fat-liquoring; Finishing, 
and preparation of the finish for this pui-pose ...... 306 

SECTION SEVEN. 
The Manufacture of Genuine Kangaroo Leather. 

Properties of kangaroo skins, and their derivation; Softening and soaking 
kangaroo and wallaby skins ......... 307 

Use of sulphide of sodium in the soak; Liming ...... 308 

Bating and drenching; Bating with bacterial bate ..... 310 

Bating with lactic acid; Bating with bi-an ....... 311 

Pickling; Chrome-tanned kangaroo leather; Two-bath process . . . 312 
One-bath process ............ 313 

Methods of dyeing kangaroo skins; Receipts for dyeing the skins black . . 315 
Fat-liquor formulas . . . . . . . . . . .317 



XVI CONTENTS. 



Oiling and drying the leather; Staking and tacking; Finishing; Di-essing for 
glazed finish ............ 319 

. 320 
. 321 
. 322 
. 323 
. 324 



Vegetable-tanned kangaroo skins; Quebracho-tanned kangaroo 
Combination-tannages ........ 

Finishing combination-tanned leather . . . . 

Dongola tannages ......... 

Yellow flesh on quebracho or combination-tanned leather. 
Blue or black flesh on quebracho or combination-tanned leather; A patented 
method of finishing kangaroo leather. ....... 32o 

SECTION EIGHT. 
Methods of Bleaching Leather. 

Bleaching sole leather; Wyandotte Tannei*s Alkali and Wyandotte Tanners 
Soda; Laws governing the results of bleaching; Consumption of bleaching 
material by sole leather tanners. . . . . . . . . 327 

Apparatus for bleaching; Amount of alkali required for bleaching. . . 328 
Invariable action of an alkali; Calculation of the amount of alkali to keep the 
bleach strength at its full efficiency ........ 329 

On what the amount of alkali required depends; Bleaching bag, strap and 
collar leather; Single-bleach formula. . . . . . ... 330 

Double bleach; Kinse liquor . . . . . . . . . .331 

Production of a still lighter color; Bleaching with sumac, boi^ax and sul- 
phuric acid . . . . . . . . . . . . 332 

Bleaching with sugar of lead and sulphuric acid ...... 333 

Bleaching with gold dust washing powder and acid ..... 334 

Bleaching with hydrosulphites; Pi'eparation of hydrosulphites . . . 335 
Bleaching with bisulphite of soda, with sodium peroxide, and with pemianga- 
nate of potash ............ 336 

Bleaching, stufling and finishing russet skirting leather. .... 337 

Bleaching with borax and lactic acid ........ 338 

Clearing leather with alum and salt . . . . . . . . 339 

Bleaching with oxalic acid . . . . . . . . . . 340 

Bleaching chrome leather; Bleaching with tanning material, alkali and acid. 341 
Amount of alkali to be added to the solution of tanning material; Constitu- 
tion of the acid bath ........... 342 

Procedure in bleaching hemlock-tanned sole leather ..... 343 

Maintaining the acidity of the acid bath; Advantages of this mode of ti"eat- 
ment ............. 344 

Method of bleaching sole leather by hand; Bleaching and finishing russet 

leather ........ 34o 

Colorless dressing for russet leather ........ 34(i 

Bleaching mill-stuffed harness leather ........ 347 



CONTENTS. XV 11 

PA(iK 

SECTION NINE. 
The Tanning of Furs and Hair Skins. 

Dry tanning; Preparation of the tanning paste 349 

Good formula for the tanning paste; Tanning with bran, alum and salt . 350 

Tanning with gambler, alum and salt; Washing greasy skins . . . 351 

Chrome-tanned furs and hair skins; A good tanning process for this purpose. 352 
Another process; Pickling the skins; Preparation of the tanning bath . . 353 
Another good tanning process ......... 354 

Oiling alum-tanned skins; Tanning dogskins . . . . . . 355 

Keceipt for deodorizing furs and skins; How to clean furs; Cleaning dark 

and white furs ............ 356 

Tanning of hides for robes, coats, etc.; Soaking the hides; Use of borax and 

of salt solution for softening 357 

Ti-eatment of hides in a partially tanned condition; Alum and salt process . 358 
Dressing or cutting down to a light substance; Eetanning .... 359 
Combination-tannage; Softening and cleaning the hides .... 360 

Tanning of calfskins and other hair skins . . . . . . • 361 

SECTION TEN. 

MlSCEIiLANEOITS PROCESSES OP TaNNING, CoEOEING AND FINISHING LEATHER. 

How to make and use acid fat-liquor; Acid fat-liquor of castor oil . . 362 

Acid fat-liquor of neatsfoot and cod oils 363 

How to use the acid-treated oils; How to color chrome-tanned skins with 

sumac and aniline dyes; Method of mordanting ..... 365 

Another method of preparing the skins for aniline coloring; Process of dyeing. 366 
Eetanning with gambler and sumac; Good retanning liquor for harness and 

other leathei-s • • 367 

Retanning of bark and extract-tanned leather; Retanning with sumac; Tan- 
ning with gambler, sumac and oak extract ...... 368 

Process of coloring chrome leather after fat-liquoring, described by Mr. 

Charles Lamb 369 

Degreasing skins and leather; Removal of the natural grease in sheepskins . 371 
Removal of the natural grease from pickled sheepskins; Treatment with 
naphtha . . .... ....... 372 

Purification of skins from gummy matters due to the use of an unsuitable oil, 373 
Method of degreasing leather and degreasing plant; Degreasing of sheepskins; 
W. Eitnei''s vicAvs on this subject . . . . . . . . 374 

Mode of degreasing sheepskins in Argentina ....... 375 

Constitution of sheepskin fat; Retanning degreased sheepskins . . . 376 
Pigskin leather; Washing and degreasing pigskins ..... 377 

Unhairing, liming and bating pigskins ........ 378 

Tanning pigskins; Quebracho tannage ........ 379 

Tanning with siimac, oak bark and alum 380 



XVlll CONTENTS, 

pagf:. 
Treatment with sumac after tanning; White pigskins ..... 381 

Mode of tanning white pigskin leather ........ 382 

Treatment of dry hides and skins; Loss by prolonged soaking; Means for 
hastening the process of soaking ........ 383 

Advantages of sulphide of sodium as a softener; Prevention of decay . . 384 
Office of any material that is used to remove the hair; Process of using sul- 
phide of sodium upon dry hides 385 

Treatment of skins for some kind of leather 386 

Preparation of goatskins for tanning; Manipulation of hides for sole leather . 387 
Plumping dry hides that are to be split after unhairing; Titanium mordants 
on chrome and vegetable-tanned leather; Compounds of antimony as 
mordants ............. 388 

Distribution of titanium in nature; Characteristics of titanium . . . .389 

Advantages of titanium mordants. ........ 390 

Examples for one hundred pounds diy vegetable-tanned, and for one hundred 
pounds of wet chrome-tanned goat, sheep, calf skins, etc.; Titanium for 
black leathers with logwood ......... 391 

Examples for one hundred pounds of dry vegetable-tanned skins, and for one 

hundred pounds of wet chrome-tanned leather 392 

Blacks with aniline colors; Example for two hundred and fifty pounds of dry 
vegetaWe-tanned skins lightly retanned ; Remarkable properties of titanium 
potassium oxalate ........... 393 

Notes on the manufacture and application of fat-liquors; Importance of the 
discovery and application of the fat-liquors to the success of the chrome 
leather industry; Pui-pose of the fat-liquor; Use of oil in the old days of 

bark-tanned leather 394 

Robert Foederer probably the inventor of the emulsified fat-liquor; Definition 

of an emulsion; Emulsifying agents; Use of soap as an emulsifying agent . 395 
Sulphonated oils; Turkey oil and the use of castor oil in its preparation; vSul- 

phonating fatty acids 396 

Sulphonating linseed oil and oleic acid; Casein and its use as an emulsifying 

agent; Egg yolk as a constituent of fat-liqiaoi-s 397 

Potash soaps as a soap constituent of fat-liquor; Objections to soda soaps; Test 

for distinguishing between potash and soda soaps 398 

Fig soap; Objections to rosin oil; Alkalinity or acidity of fat-liquoi-s . . 399 
Removing spots and stains from leather, and various methods for this purpose. 400 
How to retan chrome leather ......... 402 

How to test neatsfoot oil; Cold test; Maumene test 404 

A process of fat-liquoring 405 

Production of a fat-liquor that contains no soap and only the smallest possible 
quantity of soda; Mode of using these new fat-liquors .... 406 

Preparation of the new fat-liquors 407 

The recovery of chrome residues, and processes for this purpose . . . 408 

Oiling chrome leather; Oils suitable for the grains of chrome leather . . 409 

Formic acid in leather manufacture; In coloring . . . . . .411 

In finishing, pickling and drenching ........ 412 



CONTENTS. XIX 

PAGE 

In plumping; Acidity of a tanning liquor; Method of depilating with sulphide 
of sodium and lime . . ; . . . • • • • • ^lo 

Advantages of the use of sulphide of sodium; Method of using patented depil- 
atory crystals with lime; Process if the hair is to be saved, and if it is not 
to be saved .......••••• ^l* 

Distillate tannage, and the theory of it; Materials used for distillation; Ad- 
vantages of distillate tannage 415 

Fat-liquoring with Kromoline S; General method of using this fat-liquor . 416 
Coloring chrome-tanned skins with sulfamine dyes; Drenching with lactic 
acid; Sheepskins ........... 417 

Goatskins; Horsehides, coltskins, cowhides, etc.; Heavy upper and patent 
leathei-s ........-•••• '*1° 

Eate to he u-sed where an extra fine grain is wanted 419 

Advantage of mellowing a new bate by adding a part of an old bate, and an 

example of this method; Amount of lactic acid to be used .... 420 

To dye China goatskins black; An English process of dyeing goatskin rugs . 421 

Bating with molasses; Souring molasses; Mode of using the sour molasses . 422 

Bating with dermiforma; Influence of temperature on bacteria; Variation in 

the quantity of dermiforma used . ... . . . • 423 

Mode of using dermiforma; The bran drench 424 

Various methods of preparing bran drench 425 

Bating with dog dung- Preservation of dog manure; Quantity of dog dung 
required for various kinds of skins ........ 426 

Bating with a combination bate; Process for making grain leather from splits. 427 
Fat-liquoring of the splits; To dye colored leather black .... 428 

Practicable drum process for vegetable-tanned skins; Principle upon which 
this process is based. .......... 429 

The dongola process ........... 431 

Use of the process as a two-bath process; Tanning liquors employed . . 432 
I'rocess of tanning hides in a dongola or combination tannage . . . 433 

The use of borax in the tannery; Use of borax by the Egyptians and the 
Romans; (jenei-al usefulness of borax ....... 434 

Beneficial effect of borax as an addition to water ...... 435 

Bleaching properties of borax; Employment of borax in the preparation of 
fat-liquors and logwood liquors; Tanning Avith palmetto extract; Principal 
characteristics of palmetto extract, and its advantages over gambler . . 436 
Source of palmetto extract, and percentage of organic tanning material con- 
tained in it ........... . 437 

ITse of palmetto extract in tanning various kinds of leather .... 438 

Tanning calfskins and grains of split hides with palmetto extract; Eetanning 
chrome leather with palmetto extract ....... 439 

Tanning with chestnut extract; Principles upon which the successful use of 
extracts is based ........... 440 

Function of chestnut extract; Various ways of using this extract . . . 441 
Tanning with quebracho extract ......... 443 

The quebracho tree and derivation of its name; Properties of quebracho 
extract • 444 



XX CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Important point in using quebracho extract; Use of the barkometer in testing 
quebracho extract . . . . . . . . . . . 445 

Tanning snake skins; Tanning with alum and salt ..... 446 

Tanning with bark or extract; Tanning with salt, alum and gambler; How to 
tan deerskins ............ 447 

Oil tannage; Sumac tannage; Alum tannage. ...... 448 

Grambier, alum and salt tannage; Indian tannage; Chrome tannage . . 449 
Grading and classification of green calfskins; First, drawn or fisted off; Sec- 
ond, regular No. 1; Third, good No. 2; Fourth, proof No. 2; Fifth, culls. 450 
Subdivision of the skins according to weight; Slunks ..... 451 

The manufacture of seal skins; Classes of real seal skins; Effect of the water 
used upon the resultant leather; Levant grain ...... 452 

Liming, unhairing, and baling the skins ....... 453 

Tanning 454 

Blackening; Walrus grain seal . ... . . . . . . 455 

Tanning and dressing seal skins for leather work; Varieties of seal skins used 
for this purpose; Soaking and beamhouse work. ..... 456 

Splitting; Bating, scudding and drenching ....... 457 

Tanning process; Tanning the splits . . . . . . . . 458 

Treatment for split linings . . . . . . . . . . 459 

Finishing operations; Splits for white shoes ....... 461 

Rapid tanning process for sole leather ........ 462 

One-bath chrome process . . . . . . . . . . 464 

Formula for the liquor; Pickle; Tanning; How to dye colored chrome skins 

black 465 

Tartar emetic and antimonine in leather dyeing . . . . . . 466 

A new development in chrome tanning. ....... 467 

Fii-st lesson taught by experience in tanning chrome leather. . . . 468 

Description of the new method employed . . . . . . . 469 

SECTION ELEVEN. 
Receipts, Formulas and Miscellaneous Information. 

How to neutralize chrome leather; Dressing for leather furniture . . . 471 

Water-proof leather dressing in paste form ....... 472 

Harness blacking; Oak stain for hemlock leather; Oil black .... 473 

How to make castor oil soap; How to soften hard water; How to clean vats 

and drums ............ 474 

How to remove stains from the hands; A good chrome liquor . . . 475 

Potash soap; Preparing defibrined blood; To make leather waterproof . . 476 
To prepare striker for table coloring; To clean white fur rugs . . . 477 
Blacking for the edges of chrome leather; To presei-ve blood; To harden 

leather . .478 

Ivoiy or castile soap fat-liquor; Castor oil fat-liquor ..... 479 
Coloring process for vegetable-tanned skins; Blacking for vegetable-tanned 

skins 480 



CONTENTS. xxi 

PAOE. 

Bleaching the flesh of hemlock-tanned harness leather; Receipts for making 
sig .............. 481 

To remove grease stains fi-om leather; To remove tannin from leather, Good 
fat-liquor for light chrome leather ........ 482 

Whitewash for hide cellars and beamhouses; To bleach skins with the hair on. 48!^ 
Dyeing chrome and ooze leathers black without logwood; Logwood liquor . 484 
Dyeing chrome leather with logwood and niti-ate of iron ; Final dressing for 
box calf ............. 485 

High grade shoe polish; Finish for combination box calf leather; To prevent 
the pleating of light skins during glazing . . . . . . . 480 

To boil logwood chips; The prevention and treatment of chrome sores . . 487 
Acid burns ............. 489 

Bright blacking varnish for shoe leather . . . . . ... 490 

Lactic acid in coloring leather ......... 491 

How to get a blue-black with nigrosine; How to clean barrels; To keep patent 
leather soft and to restore the gloss; Formula for producing plump leather; 
Soaking ............. 492 

Liming; Bating; Tanning; Fat-liquore for combination-tanned leather . . 493 

P^uropean fat-liquors ........... 494 

Fat-liquor for fancy shades recommended by Prof. Procter; Fat-liquor recom- 
mended by Jettmar; Chrome alum tanning liquors ..... 495 

To prevent colored leather from fading ....... 498 

Black for wax calf, kip, upper and splits; How to prepare side leather or 
skins for blacking and for yellow-backing kang-aroo ..... 499 

Blacking for harness leather, kangaroo leather, chrome leather and other 
black stock . . . . . . . . • , • . . 50O 

APPENDIX. 

Various Patents Relating to Tanning, with Specifications. 

Coloring chrome leather with permanganate of potash, patented by William 
N. Norris 501 

The use of permanganate of potash in coloring leather, patented by William 
N. Norris . .• 503 

Leather for pneumatic tires and other special pui-poses ..... 504. 

Pneumatic tire leather, patented by Philip Magnus ..... 505 

Tanning with catechu, septfoil root, aleppo galls, hops and gum Senegal, 
patented by George A. Sweetman ........ 506 

Leather for organ pipes, patented by Bruno Trenckmann .... 507 

Coal tar in sole and heavy upper leather, patented by Loftus Harley Francis. 508 

Tanning with terra japonica, alum, gambler and extract of ci"ane's bill, 
patented by Horace M. Murray ........ 509 

Tanning with gambler, blackberry roots and witch hazel, patented by Sher- 
man Brown; Utilizing spent tanning liquors to increase the weight of 
leather, patented by George W. Childs ....... 510 

A new process of tanning with metallic salts. . . . . . . 511 



xxii CONTENTS. 

PACK 

Tanning with poke root, alum and gambier, patented by Ira D. Burrows . •'il 2 
Process of making leather for furniture, upholstery, carriages and automo- 
biles, patented by Leon Feval .513 

Alum tawing, patented by A. Warter and H. C. Koegel . . . .516 
Tanning with azedarach, gambier, tannic acid, alum and oil of cedar, 
patented by James B. Tompkins; Tanning with sumac, alum and salt, 

patented by William MacMillen 517 

Nitrate of soda in sole leather tanning, patented by John Campbell . . 618 

New method for belt and shoe leather laces, patented by James C. McConnell. 519 
Tough and waterproof leather, patented by Horatio W. Southworth; Treat- 
ment for pickled skins, patented by Otto P. Amend ..... 521 

Lactic acid in plumping and tanning leather, patented by Sigmond Saxe . 522 
The manufacture of intestinal leather, patented by Bruno Trenckmann. . 524 

Manufacture of parchment-like skin, patented by Bruno Trenckmann; Tan- 
ning with persimmon bark, broomweed, gambier and alum, patented by 
James L. Martin ........... 527 

Leather for horse collars, harness pads, etc., patented by Julius Engelke . 528 

Process for lace, belt and glove leather 529 

Process for lace leather . . . . . . . . . . 531 

Soft watei-proof leather, patented by G. W. Hersey ..... 532 

Nicotin in leather tanning .......... 533 

Treating leather with the waste sulphite liquors of wood-pulp mills, patented 

by William H. Teas 534 

Pyroxylin in finishing varnish for patent leather, patented by Bj^ron B. 

Goldsmith ..." 535 

Process of finishing upper leather, patented by C. E. and H. A. Lappe. . 536 
Patent process for weighting sole leather, patented by Hugh Mackay . . 537 
Tanning with gambier, golden seal, acid, and sweet fern .... 538 
Tanning with bark liquor, saltpetre, alum and Glaubei-'s salt, patented by 

J. W^. Hitt; Turkey- red oil in tanning and oiling leather .... 539 
Alum tawing with Turkey-red oils; Oil tanning or chamoising; Tanning and 
plumping leather with formic aldeh3'de, patented by Messrs. Dolley and 

Crank 541 

Leather for handle grips and a compound for this pui-pose, patented by 
Anthony T. Johnson; Process for rendering leather watei-proof, patented 

by Charles Bohm 545 

Chrome tanning with glucose, glycerine, steam aiid saccharine substances, 
patented by William G. and Albert C. Roach ...... 546 

New method of chrome tanning ......... 550 

The Schultz process of chrome tanning. . . . . . . . 551 

Original formula for this process ......... 552 

Metallic zinc in chrome tanning, patented by W. N. Norris. . . . 553 

Tanning with chromium chloride and chromium hyposulphite, patented by 

N. J. Pilar ' . . .555 

Tanning with chromic salt, patented by Henry Camiichael .... 556 
Tanning with a cupric salt, patented by H. Endemann. . . ... 559 



CONTENTS. xxiii 

PAGE 

Reducing with hydrogen dioxide, patented by Samuel P. Sadtler . . . 560 
Reducing with sulphate of iron and acetic acid, patented by S. Chadwick . 5.62 
One-bath process of chrome tanning ........ 563 

Tanolin (the Martin Dennis process), made by the Martin Dennis Chi-ome 
Tannage Co. ............ 564 

Process of alum and chrome tanning, patented by George W. Adler . . 566 
One-bath process, patented by Joseph W. Smith ...... 568 

A new depilatory, patented by John Campbell and William A. Rushworth . 569 
Depilating with sulphide of sodium and chalk, patented by H. Holmes; Pro- 
cess of depilating in drums, Pierson and Moor's patented process . . 570 
Depilating with caustic soda and calcium chloride, patented by John and Ed- 
ward Pullman ............ 571 

Liming process, patented by Charles Burkhalter . . . . . . 572 

Depilating with lime and copperas, patented by William J. Ward . . 573 
Improved process of beamhouse work, patented by the Intei-national Sulphide 
Process Co. ; Process of liming furs, patented by .John and Edward Pull- 
man 574 

Methods of using patented depilatories. . . . . . . . 576 

Bating mth bichromate of potash, patented by Henry Schlegel . . . 580 
Bating with dilute muriatic acid, patented by Ai-nold H. Peter . . . 581 
Bating with excrementitious substance and sulphur . . . . .582 

Bating with sulphuric acid, Glaubei-' s salt and borax, patented by N. Wilson. 583 
Bating with hyposulphite of soda, acid, and salt; Bating with Turkey-red oil 
and sal ammoniac ........... 584 

Bating with pancreatic extract, patented by Otto Rohm .... 586 

Bating with glucose, sulphur and yeast, the Oakes patented process, of bating 
hides and skins ........... 587 

Index 589 



PRACTICAL TANNING. 



SECTION ONE. 



The Manufacture of Side Leathers. 

Soaking Green-salted Hides. — It does not matter in what 
condition hides are received, nor the kind of leather into which 
they are to be made, they require soaking and softening in 
water as a preliminary and preparatory process before any 
attempt is made at tanning them. 

The hides are first trimmed, the tails, shanks and pates being 
cut ofT in the hide cellar; then they are soaked. The most 
approved method of soaking is to hang the hides in the water, 
which should be clean and soft. If the water is hard, five 
pounds of borax dissolved in hot water should be stirred into 
it to make it softer and to increase its softening and cleansing 
power. The hides should be hung in the water, from tail to 
head, and left therein for twenty-four hours. They should 
then be taken out and split into halves or sides, the water in 
the soak-vat run off, fresh water run in, and the hides put back 
and soaked twenty-four hours longer. Splitting into sides can 
also be done after the second soaking. 

The object of the soaking process is to soften the hides and 
to remove from them the salt, dirt and blood that adhere to 
them. While the hides must be thoroughly softened, they 
must not be allowed to become flaccid. As the soaking pro- 
cess comes at the beginning of leather-making processes, it is 
a matter of much importance that the hides are thoroughly 
cleansed and softened in order that they may be worked the 
more satisfactorily through the processes that follow. 



2 PRACTICAL TANNIK^G. 

Salted hides, when they are soaked too long, lose gelatine, and 
this results in loose and spongy leather. On the other hand, 
if they are not soaked enough to accomplish the objects aimed 
at, they do not go into the lime in the right condition, and the 
grain has serious defects. The water should be changed once 
or twice during the process. If the hides are very dirty and 
salty, two changes are necessary; if only ordinarily salty and 
dirty, one change is sufficient. The changing of the water 
hastens the softening and makes the hides cleaner. Hides 
soaked in hard water absorb the water readily, and hence 
become soft in a short time. It is claimed, however, that hard 
water containing the salts of lime and magnesia tends to afifect 
the substance of the hides. It is well known that different 
results are obtained in tanneries from the use of dififerent kinds 
of water, but it is always safe to use clean, soft water. Hard 
water is softened by the addition of borax or sulphide of 
sodium. 

Usually hides are sufficiently soaked by being suspended 
in the water twenty-four hours, then removed and resoaked in 
fresh water for another twenty-four hours. No exact rule can 
be given, however, as much depends upon the thickness and 
condition of the hides and the temperature of the water. It is 
important that all blood, dirt and salt be gotten rid of in the 
soaks. These substances, especially the blood, dirt and refuse, 
soon putrefy in water, the putrefaction readily injuring the 
hides. For this reason and also because of the unpleasant 
odor, it is not good practice for a tanner to use water over and 
over again for successive lots of hides. Old, stale water cer- 
tainly softens hides in a short time, but usually at the expense of 
some desirable quality of the leather. Sometimes the defects 
that result from careless soaking are not noticed until after the 
leather is tanned, and then no one can tell what caused them, 
and the blame is laid to improper treatment in some other 
portion of the work. Pricked and pitted grain are among the 
effects of careless soaking. The former is in appearance simi- 
lar to what would be the effect of puncturing the grain with 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 3 

pins. This is caused by soaking hides too long, especially in 
hot weather. Pitted grain is similar to pricked grain, only the 
holes are larger. The hides begin to decompose before they 
are taken out of the water, and no subsequent treatment can 
remedy the defect. 

The hides for sole, upper, harness and other kinds of leather 
are soaked alike. At the end of the soaking process the hides 
are removed from the water, drained, split into sides if not 
already in sides, fleshed, pinned together into a chain and 
passed into lime. 

Soaking Dry Hides. — This class of hides require longer 
soaking and thorough working to get them into the soft, pliable 
condition that is required before they can be fleshed and limed. 
The following method of soaking dry hides is as good as any 
that can be used : For every hundred gallons of water in the 
vat, dissolve twelve ounces of sulphide of sodium in hot water 
and pour the solution into the water, plunging thoroughly. 
Put the hides into the water and let them soak twenty-four 
hours. If the water is soft, less sulphide may be used. At the 
end of twenty-four hours, take the hides out of the water, put 
them into a dry mill and run them in it thirty or forty minutes ; 
then place them in a pile or piles, cover them up and let them 
lie twenty-four hours ; then put them back into the same water 
in which they were soaked before and let them soak twenty- 
lour hours. From this soaking run the hides in a dry mill 
one-half hour and then flesh them. After fleshing put them 
into clean cold water over night, then lime them. The hides 
should be split into sides before they are run in the mill. 

Another good way to soften dry hides is to put them into a 
strong salt solution. In this the hides may remain three or 
four days or until they are flexible; they may then be worked 
in a hide mill or drum and resoaked in salt water until they are 
soft. Before the hides are limed, the salt should be gotten rid 
of either by soaking or washing in clean cold water. 

Sun-dried hides should be unhaired with sulphide of sodium 
as it swells the fibers and freshens up the withered grain more 



4 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

than lime alone does or lime and red arsenic. Owing to the 
difficulties encountered in softening dry hides, many tanners 
neglect this class of stock. And yet when the hides are prop- 
erly soaked and unhaired with sulphide of sodium, very nice 
leather can be made from them. No class of hides requires 
more thorough treatment than dry hides. Having been dried 
in the raw state, they are almost waterproof, and as they are 
thick and heavy they are softened with considerable difficulty. 
Frequently, too, before the hides were dry, decay set in, which, 
although not noticed in the dry hide, becomes apparent when 
the afifected hide is soaked. Then every spot that was not 
perfectly cured or that was tainted with decay will appear 
either by the hair coming off, the grain peeling, or by portions 
of the hide rotting away. 

Soaking with sulphide of sodium, supplemented by working 
in a dry mill will be found to be the most satisfactory process 
that can be used on dry hides for upper harness and sole leather. 

Methods op^ Liming. 

Liming for Upper Leather. — Green-salted hides intended 
for soft, supple leather, chrome or vegetable tanned, worked 
through a liming process as described below will be found to 
be sufficiently limed for unhairing in six days. Exact quanti- 
ties of lime and sulphide of sodium can be used, namely, eight 
pounds of lime and one and one-half pounds of sulphide of 
sodium for every hundred pounds of hides. 

To start the liming process, slake one and one-half pounds 
of lime and add it to the water in the vat; and plunge up well. 
Reel the chain of sides into the prepared lime, taking care that 
each side is spread out flat and not rolled or twisted. After 
the hides have been in the lime twenty-four hours, reel them 
into the second lime, made by slaking one and one-half pounds 
of lime for every hundred pounds of hides and adding it to 
water in a vat; leave the hides in this lime twenty-four hours. 
Then make up the third lime with the same quantity of lime as 
the second lime and allow the hides to remain in it twenty-four 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 5 

hours. Reel them into the fourth lime, which should also con- 
tain one and one-half pounds of lime, and leave them in it 
twenty-four hours. The fifth lime should contain one pound 
of lime and the hides should remain in it twenty-four hours, 
then be reeled into the sixth lime which should contain one 
pound of lime and one and one-half pounds of sulphide of so- 
dium. This lime should be warmed to 75 degrees Fall. ; and 
the hides should be left in it twenty-four hours, then reeled 
into warm water, and after two or three hours unhaired. The 
position of the hides should be changed every day ; and fresh 
lime should be used every day, the hides remaining in each 
lime twenty-four hours. 

After the hides are unhaired, wash them for fifteen minutes 
in a wash-wheel with running water, then place them in warm 
water and work them over the beam and then bate them. 
The above-described process produces very uniform leather. 
The sulphide of sodium in the last lime helps to remove the 
fine hair, as it is very essential that leather finished on the 
grain be free from fine hair. By using definite quantities of 
lime and sulphide for definite quantities of hides it is a com- 
paratively easy matter to have the packs run uniform. The 
hair should come olT easily and clean. Unhairing out of new 
lime gives hard, plump hides, a condition that is desirable for 
chrome tannage and for splitting out of lime. The hides, after 
unhairing, can be split, or they can be bated and pickled and 
then split or bated, pickled and tanned and split after they are 
tanned. 

Although eight pounds of lime will unhair one hundred 
pounds of hides, softer and more supple leather is obtained by 
using ten pounds in six limes, starting with a pound and a half 
and using two pounds each day until the hides reach the fifth 
lime, which should contain two and one-half pounds of lime 
and one pound of sulphide of sodium. Either of these pro- 
cesses will produce satisfactory results for chrome or vegetable 
tanning. 

If the hides are to be split out of lime, they should be un- 



6 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

haired, put into warm water and worked by hand over the 
beam, then put in cold water over night to harden for spHtting. 

Sulphide of Sodium Process. — Excellent results are secured 
by immersing hides in a solution of sulphide of sodium for 
three days and then liming them for two or three days. While 
this is a good process for both green-salted and dry hides, it is 
especially suitable for the latter, as it plumps and freshens 
them more than any other process does. A strong sulphide 
solution is made by boiling sulphide of sodium in a barrel and 
letting it stand until the next day to settle. The sediment 
should be discarded and only the clear liquor used. Sufficient 
water is run into a vat and enough of the dissolved sulphide is 
added to make a six-degree liquor. After the liquor has been 
thoroughly plunged and stirred, the hides are put in and left in 
for twenty-four hours. They should then be hauled out, the 
liquor plunged up and the hides put back for twenty-four 
hours. To hang the hides in the liquor is better than to simply 
throw them in. At the end of the second twenty-four hours 
the hides should be hauled out, the liquor plunged up and the 
hides put back again for twenty- four hours longer. If dry 
hides are being treated a little stronger liquor may be used 
after the first twenty-four hours than on green hides. Six 
degrees barkometer is the strength for green hides. Three 
days in the liquor is generally sufficient time to accomplish the 
results of the process, but very heavy and dry hides may be 
left in a day or two longer. 

The hides should next be washed in a wash-mill with run- 
ning water for thirty minutes ; then put into lime liquor. Two 
pecks of lime should be used for one hundred average sides. 
It should be thoroughly slaked, added to the water and 
plunged. The sides should then be put into the liquor and 
left therein two days, being handled twice during that time. 
The lime is used to remove the sulphide from the hides. 

When the hides have been in the liquor two days they should 
be washed for twenty minutes in cold water, bated and pickled. 
Bating is done most effectively with sour glucose and lactic 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. / 

acid. The hides should be freed of all the sulphide of sodium 
before they are pickled and tanned. If preferred, splitting can 
be done out of the lime. 

This process destroys the hair but makes very plump and 
tough leather, which is compensation for the loss of the hair. 
Dry hides that are not thoroughly softened in the soaks, when 
put through this process are plumped, softened and freshened 
in a very satisfactory manner. The workmen who handle the 
hides through the sulphide process must wear rubber gloves to 
protect their hands frorn the caustic material. 

Patented depilatory crystals can be used in place of sulphide 
of sodium. 

If the hides are split out of the lime the grains are then 
bated, pickled and tanned ; if they are split out of pickle or 
after tanning they are bated whole and then pickled. Opinions 
differ in regard to the best time for splitting. Personally the 
author considers splitting out of alumina and salt pickle the 
best method, but many good tanners prefer to split out of acid 
pickle and others out of lime. 

Methods of Bating. 

Bating with Lactic Acid. — A slow, mild fermentation of an 
acid rather than a putrefactive nature, appears to be the ideal 
condition to be sought after; and this can be satisfactorily 
obtained by allowing grape sugar or common glucose to sour 
and using definite portions of this sugar in combination with 
lactic acid on each pack of hides. 

I. The process is a simple one and is easily carried out in 
the following manner: Take one hundred pounds of grape 
sugar or glucose and dissolve it in thirty-five gallons of hot 
water in a barrel. Allow this to stand for two days in a warm 
temperature, when it will be completely soured. Prepare a 
paddle wheel with water at a temperature of 95 degrees Fahr., 
and put into it two and one-half quarts of the sour sugar solu- 
tion. For every one hundred pounds weight of stock to be 
bated, take one pint of lactic acid and put about half of this 



8 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

into the paddle wheel before putting in the hides. When the 
hides are in, add the rest of the lactic acid slowly. Three to 
four hours is usually sufficiently long to run the goods in the 
paddle wheel. On being taken out, the goods should be 
thoroughly washed with water. The importance of this simple 
washing is too often overlooked and the necessity of it cannot 
be over- emphasized, if a good clear grain which Vv'ill color 
evenly is desired. 

For the second pack of hides, the bate liquor is run down 
about twelve inches in the paddle wheel and the loss made up 
with fresh water. The temperature is brought up to 95 de- 
grees, two and one-half quarts of the sour sugar solution is 
added and one pint of lactic acid for every hundred pounds of 
stock is taken as described on the first pack. Continue in this 
way, running off a little of the liquor for each pack, for six 
days, then run ofif all the liquor but retaining about a barrel 
full with which to mallow the new liquor, which is prepared 
with fresh water. 

It should be pointed out that the amount of sugar solution 
used, namely, two and one-half quarts per pack, is based upon 
the volume of the liquor in the paddle wheel. The average 
capacity of a paddle wheel is between two thousand and twenty- 
five hundred pounds of stock. The fermentative action of the 
sugar is, however, so mild that a wide range in the weight of 
the stock bated with the given quantity of the sour solution is 
permitted without any danger. 

2. Another Method. — Another and simpler method of intro- 
ducing the fermentation into the bate is the following : Pre- 
pare a paddle wheel with water at a temperature of 120 de- 
grees Fahr., put into it two pails full of dry bran and allow it 
to stand over night. Next day bring the temperature up to 95 
degrees, and take one pint of lactic acid for every hundred 
pounds of stock and put about half of it into the bate liquor, 
then throw in the hides, and add the remainder of the acid 
slowly afterwards. Run the paddle for three or four hours, 
then take out the hides and wash them well. For the second 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 9 

pack run the bate liquor down about twelve inches and make 
up the loss with fresh water, bring up the temperature to 
95 degrees Fahr., do not use any more bran but take one pint 
of lactic acid for every hundred pounds of stock and proceed 
exactly as described on the first pack. Continue in this way 
for six days, then run ofif all the bate liquor and make up a 
fresh liquor with water at 120 degrees Fahr., and two pails of 
dry bran, allow same to stand at least twelve hours and then 
proceed in the manner described. 

Either of these combinations has been found very satis- 
factory in the manufacture of side leather ; and with very little 
practice uniform results are obtained. Where full flanks, 
" good break," and fine even grain are desired these processes 
can be recommended. 

Inasmuch as they aim at definite proportions of definite 
materials to the weight of the stock to be bated, they repre- 
sent a distinct advance in the progress of leather manufacture 
in a department where rule-of-thumb methods and a good deal 
of guesswork have prevailed from time immemorial. 

The writer is indebted to The Shoe and Leather Reporter 
for the description of these processes. He has, however, used 
them in an experimental way and achieved perfectly satis- 
factory results from their use. 

3, When lactic acid is used alone a little less than one pint 
of it is used for every hundred pounds of grains that have been 
carefully washed after fine-hairing. The acid is added to water 
at 95 degrees Fahr. and well plunged, then the grains are put 
in and processed for two or three hours, then taken out, 
washed, pickled and tanned. 

Sides that have not been split should be given more acid 
and be left two or three times as long in the bath as the grains 
of hides split out of lime. 

No matter what process of bating is used the hides should 
be washed in warm water afterwards and then pickled either 
with sulphuric acid and salt, or sulphate of alumina and salt. 

Bating with a Bacterial Bate. — Because of the thorough 



lO PRACTICAL TANNING. 

manner in which they rid hides of lime and sulphide of sodium 
or red arsenic, and because of the fine, silky, elastic grain and 
fineness of feel and texture that they produce, bacterial bates 
are in common use by the tanner of chrome and vegetable 
tanned side leathers. Dog, hen and pigeon manures are the 
materials in most general use. There are also bacterial bates 
on the market that the tanner can buy. They are much more 
cleanly to use than manures and more uniform in their action. 
Directions for these commercial bates are furnished by the 
manufacturers so they need not be given here. 

Bating with chicken manure is done in the following manner : 
The manure is put to soak in hot water in a tub or barrel sev- 
eral days before it is used ; and it should be stirred every day 
while it is soaking so that it will be made into a mash that can 
be strained. The water into which the manure is put should be 
about 150 degrees Fahr. temperature, but the mixture should 
not be boiled. Before it is used the bate material should be 
strained to rid it of objectionable foreign matter, such as 
cinders, gravel, feathers, etc. 

A paddle vat is better for the process than a vat without 
paddles. Suf^cient water should be run in and warmed up to 
90 degrees Fahr. For grains that have been washed, use three 
pails of the strained manure for one hundred grains ; for whole 
or unsplit sides use five pails. 

Stir the material thoroughly through the water, and throw the 
hides in as quickly as possible so as to retain the heat. Run 
the paddle thirty minutes for split hides and then allow them to 
rest two hours, then run them for another half-hour, at the end 
of which time the stock should be soft and thin and ready to 
come out. The paddles can also be run one hour, then allowed 
to rest an hour, and then run thirty minutes, rested thirty 
minutes, then run ten minutes, when the hides should be suf- 
ficiently bated. 

Whole sides should be paddled one hour, then allowed to 
rest two hours, and then paddled an hour longer and should 
then be ready to come out. No hard-and-fast rule can be laid. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 11 

down for this process as so much depends upon the condition 
of the hides, some of which bate more rapidly than others. 
Some grains bate sufficiently in two hours while others require 
more time. The paddle vat should be so constructed that the 
liquor can be warmed while the hides are in it, by having a 
steam-pipe surrounded by a box with holes in it at one end. 
The paddle should be covered and have a door in the front end 
which can be raised while the hides are being put in or taken 
out. A covered vat enables a uniform temperature to be main- 
tained during the process. 

The bating can be done during the night by putting the 
hides in and running the paddle an hour before closing time. 
The next morning the paddle should be run one hour, and if 
the hides do not appear to be bated the liquor may be warmed 
to 90 degrees Fahr, and a little more bating material added. 
After the hides are soft and low, and as soon as they are in this 
condition they should be taken out, washed in warm water, or in 
warm water containing a little lactic acid, for ten minutes if 
split, and thirty minutes if not split, and then drained prepara- 
tory to pickling or tanning. 

The Pickling Process. 

Pickling with sulphuric acid and salt may be done in a paddle- 
wheel or in a drum. If the former is used dissolve forty pounds 
of salt for every hundred gallons of water in the vat ; then for 
every hundred pounds of hides add to the salt water ten pounds 
of salt and one and one-half pounds of sulphuric acid. Plunge 
the liquor thoroughly and put the hides in. Run the paddle 
for two hours if the hides are split and then take the hides out 
and place them over horses to drain. 

If the hides are not split, run the paddle two hours and let 
the hides lie in the liquor an hour or two longer, then take 
them out and let them press and drain before spHtting or tan- 
ning them. If pickling is done in a drum, use twelve gallons of 
water, ten pounds of salt and one and a half pounds of sul- 
phuric acid for one hundred pounds of hides. Run split hides 



12 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

in the pickle one-half or three-quarters of an hour, and whole 
hides and kips one and one-half hours ; then horse them up to 
drain. 

Split hides are now in condition to be tanned in any chrome, 
vegetable, or combination process without further treatment. 
Whole hides can either be tanned, or split in pickled condition 
and then tanned. Splitting out of acid pickle does not produce 
as firm leather as splitting out of alumina and salt pickle or 
splitting after tanning. When hides are not split out of lime it 
is advisable to either pickle them with alumina and salt, and 
then to split them, or else to tan them whole and to split them 
after they are tanned. 

Methods of Splitting. 

Splitting out of Lime. — Hides to make good chrome leather 
should come from the unhairing machine firm and hard. If 
they are soft and flabby, they will make very poor leather, as 
there is nothing in the process of making chrome leather that 
will fill the hides and make up for the lost substance. After 
the hair is removed, the sides should be washed in lukewarm 
water for fifteen minutes and then worked by hand over the 
beam for short hair. This work is very important, as it is im- 
perative that all fine hair be gotten rid of. And even if there 
are no fine hairs, working out the grain opens up the cells of 
the hides and makes the grain fine and clear. After this work 
has been done the sides are put into cold water over night to 
harden for splitting. The next morning they are ready to 
be split. In splitting the sides, a six-ounce grain from the ma- 
chine will finish up four and a half ounces of leather as it loses 
an ounce and a half going through the various processes. 

All tag ends and pieces of flesh should be trimmed from the 
sides before splitting is begun, so that there will be nothing to 
interfere with the hide feeding into the splitting machine freely. 
After the sides are split they should be run in a wash-wheel for 
fifteen minutes with cold water to open them up and remove the 
glaze caused by the belt knife. The next process is bating. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 1 3 

Splitting out of Sulphate of Alumina and Salt Pickle. — If it 
is desired to split the hides out of a pickle, they should be fine- 
haired, washed and bated and then pickled. The pickling with 
sulphate of alumina and salt is done in this manner: For every 
hundred pounds of sides dissolve four pounds of sulphate of 
alumina and ten pounds of common salt in six gallons of boil- 
ing water, then add six gallons of cold water and use the liquor 
after it has cooled to 70 degrees Fahr. Put the liquor into the 
drum, then put the sides in. Drum the sides in the pickle one 
hour, then horse them up smoothly and let them press and 
drain until the next day. Hides pickled this way should not 
be previously pickled with acid and salt. If the splitting ma- 
chine has a corrugated roll, the sides can be split right off the 
horse. If the machine has a smooth roll, the sides should be 
hung up to sammy, or pressed or put out on a putting-out ma- 
chine to get them into condition for splitting. The grains 
should be split at the same thickness that the finished leather 
is to be as they do not fall away like grains split from limed 
hides. Hides pickled with alumina and salt split just as easily 
as bark-tanned leather, and the splits are just as good as those 
taken from the limed hides. After the sides are split, the 
grains can be shaved while in the pickled condition and this 
saves putting them out for shaving after they are tanned. The 
grains are then ready to be tanned. 

Splitting after Tanning. — To tan the sides in a chrome 
process and then to split them is the practice of some tanners. 
The sides are tanned in a one-bath chrome process in a paddle- 
vat or by suspension ; and when they are well struck through 
with the tan, they are pressed and split. The pressing removes 
the surplus water and makes the leather drier and firmer. 
After pressing, the sides should be run in a dry mill until they 
are opened up and ready to split ; they should then be jacked 
the same as bark leather and split to the thickness that the fin- 
ished leather is to be. After they are split, the grains are 
shaved and retanned. 

Splitting out of Acid Pickle. — When hides are split in acid- 



14 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

pickled condition, they are allowed to drain twenty-four hours 
after being pickled, and are then pressed to remove surplus 
liquor and milled to remove the press marks ; they are then 
split to the required thickness. Pickled grains finish about 
the weight they are when split. After splitting, the grains can 
be shaved or they can be shaved after they are tanned. 

Processes of Chrome Tanning for Side Leather. 

Process for Acid-Pickled Grains. — When hides are split out 
of lime, the grains are then bated, washed and pickled. The 
processes of tanning such grains are the same as for grains 
split from acid-pickled sides. The two-bath process is prac- 
ticed as follows : The pickled grains are weighed. For one 
hundred pounds of them six pounds of bichromate of potash 
and one and a half pounds of muriatic acid and twelve gallons 
of water constitute the first bath. The potash is dissolved in 
three gallons of boiling water ; then cold water is added to 
make twelve gallons of liquor, and to this the muriatic acid is 
added. The grains are put into a drum and processed in the 
solution for three hours or until the yellow color has pene- 
trated through the thickest grain. The grains are then taken 
out of the drum, placed over horses and allowed to drain and 
season for twenty- four hours. The second bath is prepared in 
the meantime. Twenty pounds of hyposulphite of soda are 
dissolved in four gallons of boiling water ; cold water is then 
added to make fifteen gallons of liquor. Three pounds of 
muriatic acid are stirred into two gallons of cold water. The 
sides are put into the drum with part of the solution of hypo- 
sulphite of soda, and the drum is set in motion. The muriatic 
acid solution and the rest of the hyposulphite liquor, mixed, 
are then poured into the drum through the funnel attached to 
the hollow gudgeon. The drum is run three or four hours, at 
the end of which time the grains are a blue color through and 
through and are tanned. The whole of the hyposulphite of 
soda solution can be put into the, drum and after the drum is 
started the acid should be added at once. When they are 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 1 5 

tanned, the sides should be placed over horses for twenty four 
hours before they are washed and finished. 

Good leather can also be made by using five pounds of 
bichromate of potash and one pound of sulphuric acid for one 
hundred pounds of grains as the first bath, and sixteen pounds 
of hyposulphite of soda and one and a half pounds of sulphuric 
acid for the second bath, the tanning being done in the manner 
that has been described. 

One-Bath Processes for Acid-Pickled Grains. — i. The one- 
bath process of chrome tanning is much safer and more 
economical than the two-bath. One way to use the process 
is as follows: For every hundred pounds of grains, a solution 
is prepared consisting of two pounds of Glauber's salt, five 
pounds of common salt and fifteen gallons of water at 90 
degrees Fahr. The grains are drummed in this solution forty- 
five minutes; then the drum is stopped, the grains are thrown 
back upon the pins and the liquor is drained out of the drum. 
Five pounds of salt and twelve gallons of lukewarm water are 
then put into the drum and the grains are drummed in the salt 
water ten minutes. In the meantime fourteen pounds of con- 
centrated chrome liquor are dissolved in six gallons of hot 
water. One-third of this is poured into the drum and the 
drumming is continued one half-hour. Then another third is 
added and the drum is run one hour; and then the rest of the 
chrome liquor is added and the grains are drummed until they 
are tanned, which takes five or six hours. The leather is then 
taken from the drum, allowed to drain for twenty-four hours ; 
then pressed and shaved if necessary, and then washed, colored 
and fat-liquored. It is always advisable to let the leather 
remain in the liquor over night after it is tanned, enough water 
being added to the liquor to cover the leather well. 

2. In this process a liquor made of sulphate of alumina and 
sal soda is used. For every hundred pounds of pickled sides 
four pounds of sulphate of alumina are dissolved by boiling in 
five gallons of water, and in another vessel four pounds of sal 
soda are dissolved by boiling in five gallons of water. The 



1 6 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

soda solution is then poured very slowly, and with constant 
stirring into the alumina solution, and the mixture is allowed 
to get cold before it is used. The sides are put into the drum 
with ten pounds of salt and eight gallons of water and are 
drummed ten minutes. The alumina-soda liquor is then 
poured into the drum and the drumming is continued for one 
hour. The liquor is then drained off, a few pounds of salt and 
ten gallons of water are put in with the sides, and the chrome 
tanning is then proceeded with in the manner described in the 
preceding paragraph. 

Process for Alumina-Pickled Grains. — The grains are put 
into the drum with ten pounds of salt and fifteen gallons of 
water for every hundred pounds of them and are run in the 
brine twenty minutes. Twelve pounds of concentrated one- 
bath liquor are dissolved in six gallons of warm water and poured 
into the drum in portions of one-fourth at a time at intervals of 
thirty minutes, and the grains are drummed until they are 
tanned through, which usually requires five or six hours. The 
leather is then left in the liquor over night, run an hour the 
next morning, then drained twenty-four hours, washed and 
colored. 

Processes for Unsplit Sides. — i. Sides that are not split until 
after they are tanned are tanned most satisfactorily in one-bath 
chrome liquor in a vat with paddles. They are bated, washed 
and pickled either with sulphuric acid and salt, or with sulphate 
of alumina and salt. For the tanning process a vat with paddles 
may be used. For every hundred gallons of water in the vat 
thirty-five pounds of salt are put in and dissolved. The hides 
are then put in and the paddles are run for half an hour. Con- 
centrated chrome tanning material is then dissolved with warm 
water until the solution stands 50 degrees Baume scale. When 
the hides have been in the salt water thirty minutes two quarts 
of the chrome liquor are added and the paddle is run an hour. 
Three quarts of chrome liquor are then added and the paddles 
run three hours. More chrome-material is then added and 
the hides are kept in the bath until they are tanned through. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 1 7 

The tan bath can also be made by adding three gallons of con- 
centrated chrome liquor to the salt water to start with and then 
addmg three or four gallons more for every hundred gallons of 
water as the tanning proceeds. 

When the hides are tanned, which is ascertained by the tan- 
ner cutting into one or more and noting the blue color clear 
through, and the dry, white fibers when scraped with a knife, 
they are taken out and pressed for splitting, milled in a dry- 
mill to open them up, jacked the same as bark-leather, and then 
split to the desired substance. The grains and splits are then 
put into a drum and retanned. For every hundred pounds of 
leather, five pounds of salt and ten gallons of water are put into 
the drum, and the leather is run in it for ten minutes. Two 
quarts of the prepared chrome liquor are put into the drum and 
the leather is drummed in the liquor an hour; then two more 
quarts of liquor are run into the drum and the leather is run for 
two hours, then drained for twenty-four hours, washed and 
colored. 

Retanning can also be done by putting the leather into 
chrome liquor in a vat; but the drum-method is the most 
expeditious. 

If the hides are tanned in a drum they need to be drummed 
more than twice as long as hides that were split out of lime or 
pickle. The processes of tanning pickled grains that have been 
described can be used in tanning unsplit hides, but they must 
be given more time. 

2. Whole sides can be tanned with the two-bath chrome pro- 
cess by being drummed for six or seven hours in the first bath 
and seven or eight hours in the second bath. Hides tanned in 
a one-bath process are more easily retanned than those tanned 
in a two-bath process. The latter may be retanned with gam- 
bier or palmetto with benefit to color, appearance of the grain 
and feel. 

Washing and Shaving. — After the leather is tanned or re- 
tanned, as the case may be, it should be allowed to press and 
drain twenty-four hours, and then washed. The first washing 
2 



l8 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

is done in a closed drum with one pound of borax dissolved in 
fifteen gallons of warm water for one hundred pounds of 
leather. The leather should be washed for half an hour, then 
put into a wash-mill with running water and washed for an 
hour. All trace of acid and tanning salts should be washed 
out; the leather then struck out or pressed to remove the sur- 
plus water, and then shaved if it was not shaved before it was 
tanned. The next process is coloring. 

Practical Methods of Coloring Chrome Upper 
Leather. 
Dyeing with Natural Dyestuffs. Receipt No. i — Light Tan. 
— After chrome-tanned sides have been washed and shaved, 
they should be sorted, and those that are suitable for colors 
selected and weighed. A light shade of tan can be obtained 
on one hundred pounds of leather by using 

Yellow Fustic Extract. 2 pounds. 

Put the leather into the drum with twelve gallons of water at a 
temperature of 140 degrees Fahr. Start the drum, then pour 
into it through the hollow axle the fustic liquor made by dis- 
solving the extract in three gallons of boiling water. Run the 
leather in the dye one-half hour; then add 

Titanium Potassium Oxalate 4 ounces. 

Dissolve this in a gallon of hot water and pour it into the drum. 
Drum the leather fifteen minutes longer, then wash and fat- 
liquor it. 

Receipt No. 2 — Dark Tan. — For one hundred pounds of 
shaved leather use 

Red Fustic Extract 4 pounds. 

Put the leather into the drum with twelve gallons of water at 
140 degrees, and after the drum is started pour the fustic liquor 
in and run the drum one-half hour. Then add 

Titanium Potassium Oxalate 6 ounces, 

dissolved in hot water, to the contents of the drum, and run the 
drum fifteen minutes longer. A nice shade of dark tan results. 
Th^n wash and fat-liquor the leather. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 19 

Receipt No. j — Oxblood. — This popular shade is obtained by- 
using natural dyestufifs in the following manner: For one hun- 
dred pounds of leather use 

Hypernic Extract 2^^^ pounds. 

Logwood Crystals 1)2 ounces. 

Leather Red % ounce. 

Dissolve these materials in four gallons of boiling water. Put 
the leather into the drum with ten gallons of water at 140 de- 
grees. Start the drum and pour the dye-liquor through the 
hollow axle. After the leather has been running in the liquor 
one-half hour, dissolve and add 

Titanium Potassium Oxalate 4)^ ounces 

and continue drumming for fifteen minutes. Then wash and 
iat-liquor the leather. 

Receipt No. 4. — Chocolate Brown. — For one hundred pounds 
of leather use 

Yellow Fustic Extract 2)^ pounds. 

Hypernic Extract 10 ounces. 

Logwood Crystals 3 ounces. 

Boil until dissolved. Put the leather into the drum with water 
at 140 degrees Fahr, and run the drum one-half hour after the 
dye-liquor has been put in. Then dissolve and add 

Titanium Potassium Oxalate 5 ounces. 

and drum the leather in the combined liquors fifteen minutes 
longer; then wash and fat-liquor it. 

Receipt No. 5 — Alizaritte Red-Brown. — A popular shade of 
red-brown is obtained by applying the following alizarine dyes 
in the quantities stated for one hundred pounds of leather : 

Alizarine Brown G 4 ounces. 

Alizarine Yellow R extra 4 ounces. 

Alizarine New Yellow extra ^ ounce. 

Dissolve the alizarine brown G by boiling in eight gallons of 
water, then add four gallons of cold water and use the solution 
at 170 degrees Fahr. Drum the leather in this solution fifteen 
minutes. In the meantime dissolve the other dyes in three 
gallons of boiling water and pour the solution into the drum. 
Run the drum fifteen minutes, then drain the liquor out and 



20 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

fat-liquor the leather. It is also beneficial to the color to add 
one pound of extract of fustic dissolved in hot water to the 
contents of the drum after the second fifteen minutes and run 
the drum another quarter hour; then dissolve and add to the 
contents of the drum two ounces of bichromate of potash. 
Run the drum ten minutes, then drain the liquor out and wash 
the leather in three changes of warm water and then fat-liquor it. 
Receipt No. 6 — Alizarhie Brown. — For each hundred pounds 
of leather dissolve in six gallons of boiling water 

Alizarine Leather Brown B, No. 9052 12 ounces. 

When the dye is dissolved add cold water to make ten gallons 
and use at 170 degrees Fahr. Put the leather into the drum 
and after the latter is started pour the dye through the axle 
and drum the leather one-half hour. In the meantime dissolve 
in a gallon of warm water 

Yellow Fustic Extract i quart. 

Add this solution to the contents of the drum and run it for 
fifteen minutes. Then drain ofT the liquor, wash and fat-liquor 
the leather. 

Receipt No. 7 — Mordant for Aniline Colors. — For one hundred 
potmds of leather use 

Gambler 2 pounds. 

Extract of Fustic i pound. 

Boil in four gallons of water until dissolved; then cool down 
with cold water to make twelve gallons. Use at 130 degrees 
Fahr, and drum the leather in it one-half hour. Then dissolve 
in a pail of hot water and pour into the drum 

Titanium Potassium Oxalate 4 ounces. 

Drum the leather fifteen minutes. Then if acid dye is to be 
applied run off the spent mordant and run in the dye; then 
wash and fat-liquor the leather. 

If basic dye is to be applied after running in the mordant, if 
the mordant is all taken up, run the liquor off and apply the 
color. If the mordant bath is not exhausted it is advisable to 
wash the leather before running in the dye. Any shade of tan 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 21 

or brown can be readily obtained on leather treated in the 
manner described. 

Receipt No 8 — Palmetto Mordant. — For any shade of aniline 
coloring palmetto extract serves satisfactorily as a mordant. 
Use from two to three pounds dissolved in four gallons of boil- 
ing water and then increased to twelve gallons by the addition 
of cold water. Add a little glycerine to the liquor. Apply 
the liquor to the leather at 130 degrees Fahr. Drum the 
leather in the liquor one-half hour; then add four ounces 
of titanium salts dissolved in hot water and after running fifteen 
minutes longer, drain the liquor out of the drum and run the 
leather in the aniline dye. This process produces full, even 
and permanent shades. 

Receipt No. g — Peachwood- Fustic Mordant. — This is a splen- 
did process for coloring chrome side leather the oxblood shade. 
Boil together in a few gallons of water 

Extract of Fustic i pound. 

Extract of Peachwood 2 pounds. 

Add enough cold water to make six gallons of liquor and use 
at 125 degrees Fahr. For one hundred and twenty feet of 
leather, more or less : Put the leather into the drum with ten 
gallons of water at 1 10 degrees and start the drum ; then pour 
in the fustic-peachwood liquor and run the leather in it one-haif 
hour. While the leather is drumming, dissolve 

Amaranth 3/R 12 ounces. 

Glycerine 8 ounces. 

in two gallons of boiling water; strain and add two gallons 
more of water. Add this liquor to the contents of the drum 
and run the drum one-half hour. Then stop the drum, take 
the leather out and rinse it in clean water. Empty the drum ; 
put the leather back and run it in a solution of two ounces of 
bichromate of potash for fifteen minutes. The leather is then 
ready for fat-liquoring. The color can be deepened by using 
a stronger fustic-peachwood liquor. For a light shade of ox- 
blood use more fustic extract and less peachwood. Sumac ex- 
tract may be used for the mordant. One dozen sides may be 



22 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

given from one and a quarter to one and a half pounds of the 
extract, according to their size. 

, Receipt No. I o — Gambier Mordant. — Three pounds of gam- 
bier for one hundred pounds of leather prepare the leather for 
aniline coloring. Boil the gambier in four gallons of water; 
then add cold water to make twelve gallons of liquor. Use at 
120 degrees Fahr. and run the leather in it one-half hour. 
Then dissolve four ounces of titanium salts in hot water, add it 
to the contents of the drum and run the drum ten minutes. 
Drain the liquor out and apply the aniline solution for the 
shade desired. Ouermos extract may be used with equally 
good results, the same quantity as of gambier being used. 

Receipt No. ii — Fustic Mordant. — Fustic extract is an ex- 
cellent mordant for tan shades. Use from two to three pounds 
for one hundred pounds of leather. Dissolve in boiling water,, 
then increase to twelve gallons by adding cold water, use at 
1 20 degrees Fahr. Drum the leather in it one-half hour. Dis- 
solve and add four ounces of titanium salts and run the drum 
fifteen minutes longer. Then drain the liquor off and color 
with aniline dye. 

The Use of Tartar Emetic. — Chrome-tanned sides, previous 
to the application of aniline dye, must be prepared with some 
tanning or coloring extract in the manner that has been de- 
scribed. There frequently results imperfect and spotted color- 
ing due to uncombined tannin on the grain of the leather. To 
overcome this and to fix the color upon the leather, many 
dyers use tartar emetic. The leather is run in the sumac, gam- 
bier, fustic or palmetto bath, as the case may be, the required 
length of time. Tartar emetic dissolved in hot water is then 
added to the bath and the drum is run fifteen minutes longer. 
The leather is then rinsed off in warm water, the spent liquor 
run into the sewer, the dye liquor is prepared and the leather 
is run in it one-half hour, then washed and fat-liquored. When 
tartar emetic is used, no titanium salts or bichromate of potash 
is necessar}^ as it serves to clear the grain and to combine with 
the mordant to fix the dye upon the leather. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 23 

Since chrome leather is invariably colored before it is fat- 
liquored and dried, and since the drying and finishing of the 
leather frequently change the shade, it is very important that 
the dyer uses the quantity of dye that will color the leather the 
shade that is wanted when it is finished. The quantity of dye- 
stuff required to color a lot of leather depends, of course, upon 
the size of the skins or sides, and must be decided by the dyer. 
Before proceeding to carry on coloring operations on a large 
scale it is advisable to try a few experiments on a small scale, 
and in this way ascertain the exact quantity of dye to use. 

Dissolving Aniline Dyes. — Care should always be taken to 
have aniline dye completely dissolved before using it. A good 
way to dissolve aniline dye is to put it into a clean pail and to 
pour over it a gallon or two of boiling water ; keep stirring 
while this is being done. Then hold the pail under a copper 
steam-pipe and boil the dye thoroughly for ten minutes. Have 
another pail ready, over the top of which is spread a piece of 
cheesecloth. Pour the color solution through this into the 
pail, thus straining it. Then cool down with cold water and 
use at a temperature of 120 degrees Fahr. It is of great import- 
ance that the drum and skins be kept in motion while the dye 
solution is being put into the drum. The dye should be added 
a portion at a time until all is in the drum, then the leather 
should be drummed at least fifteen minutes before the drum is 
stopped. 

Titatiium Mordants. — The double titanium salt, Titanium 
Potassium Oxalate, is valuable material for the leather dyer. 
Applied to chrome leather treated with gambler, fustic, sumac, 
palmetto or other tannin, it unites with the tannin to form a 
yellowish-brown base, which is a most suitable foundation color 
for all shades of yellow, tan, brown, oxblood, etc. Leather so 
treated takes basic or acid aniline readily ; and the color that 
results is full and uniform and permanent. The shade of yel- 
low-brown produced varies with the kind of tannin in the 
leather, young fustic producing a light tan, gambler and fustic 
a brownish tan, and sumac a yellow shade. The leather is 



24 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

•drummed in the sumac, gambier or fustic bath a few moments, 
then the solution of titanium salt is added to the bath and the 
drumming is continued for ten or fifteen minutes. 

If the mordant is all taken up at the expiration of the time 
stated, the liquor is drained out and either basic or acid aniline 
solution run in and the leather drummed in it, then washed and 
fat-liquored. If the mordant bath is not exhausted, the leather 
should be washed before basic aniline is applied. Washing is 
not necessary for acid dyes, and only necessary when the mor- 
dant bath is not exhausted, which is seldom the case. 

The dealers in aniline colors can match any shade and fur- 
nish formulas. The formulas given in this book have been 
used in practice by practical dyers with perfectly satisfactory 
results. 

Dyeing Chrome Side Leather Black. 

Four practical processes of dyeing chrome side leather black 
are described here. Any one of them can be used with satis- 
factory results. 

Receipt No. i — Logwood and Bichromate of Potash. — For 
dyeing one hundred pounds of leather, washed and shaved, 
ready for coloring, use 

Logwood Crystals 1)2 pounds. 

Extract of Fustic 4 ounces. 

Borax 3 ounces. 

Boil the logwood and borax until dissolved in six gallons of 

water. Then dissolve the fustic paste in two gallons of hot 

water and stir it into the logwood liquor. Then add enough 

cold water to make twelve gallons of dye. In a pail dissolve 

Bichromate of Potash 1)4 ounces. 

Put the leather into the drum with three or four gallons of 
water and run the drum five minutes to wet the leather. Then 
pour the prepared logwood liquor at 120 degrees Fahr. into the 
drum and run the leather in it twenty minutes. Next pour the 
bichromate of potash solution into the drum and continue the 
drumming for ten minutes, when the process should be com- 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 25 

plete. Wash the leather in three changes of water ; then fat- 
liquor it. 

Receipt No. 2 — Logwood ajid Titanium Salts. — Prepare a log- 
wood solution by boiling logwood and borax, then add fustic 
paste and have twelve gallons of the dye as described in Receipt 
No. I. In a little hot water in a pail dissolve for one hundred 
pounds of leather 

Titanium Potassium Oxalate 6 ounces. 

Run the leather in the logwood liquor twenty minutes. Then 
add the titanium solution to the liquor and run the drum fifteen 
minutes. A good black results. The leather should then be 
washed, fat-liquored and finished. 

To get the black deeper into the leather or through it, drum 
it in palmetto extract, then in a solution of three ounces of 
titanium salts in solution ; add the logwood, and after twenty 
minutes pour in three more ounces of titanium salts in solu- 
tion, and after running the drum ten minutes longer wash and 
fat-liquor the leather. 

Receipt No. j — Logwood and Copperas.— Drxxm the leather in 
the logwood-fustic liquor twenty minutes ; then pour into the 
drum, in solution. 

Copperas 2 ounces. 

Bluestone ^a ounce. 

These articles should be dissolved in three gallons of hot water. 
Run the drum fifteen minutes; then wash the leather in three 
changes of warm water to remove all the dye and then proceed 
to finish it. 

Receipt No. 4 — Logwood and Nigrosine. — This process colors 
the flesh blue and the grain black. For each dozen sides dis- 
solve eight ounces of Nigrosine P in hot water, and drum the 
leather in the solution twenty minutes or until the color is 
well taken up. Then drain off all the water and fat-liquor the 
leather with a suitable fat-liquor; after which black the grain 
on a table by brushing in logwood and copperas or logwood 
and bichrom.ate of potash, first applying the logwood and then 
the copperas or other striker. When the grain has become 



26 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

black, wash it, set it out, apply a coat of oil, and hang the 
leather up to dry. 

When leather is drummed in a logwood liquor containing 
borax until the color is taken and then spread on a table or 
run through a machine and blacked upon the grain, it dries 
out with blue flesh and black grain. 

After leather is dyed with logwood and striker, it should be 
very thoroughly washed before it is dried and finished to get 
rid of all the dye liquor. 

It is considered by some tanners conducive to a better color 
to run the leather in a solution of palmetto extract or of 
gambler before giving it the dye. A good method is to apply 
palmetto liquor, say two pounds to one hundred pounds of 
leather, then to drum the leather in an alkaline logwood-fustic 
liquor, and then to develop the color with a solution of 
titanium salts as described in Receipt No. 2. 

Good results are also secured by fat- liquoring the leather 
first, then running it in gambler or palmetto, and afterward 
dyeing with logwood and striker. A better black as to color 
and durability is obtained by using titanium salts in place of 
iron liquor. 

Fat-Liquors for Chrome Side Leather. 

After the leather has been colored, it should be washed and 
either struck out or pressed. It is then ready to be fat- 
liquored. A suitable drum should be heated with live steam, 
all condensed steam drained out, the leather put into the drum 
and drummed in it ten minutes to warm it and make it more 
receptive to the fat-liquor. The fat-liquor, previously prepared, 
is now poured into the drum through the funnel attached to 
the hollow axle. After the fat-liquor is in the drum, the 
leather should be drummed in it for forty minutes to absorb 
the oil and grease and leave the water behind. The tempera- 
ture of the fat-liquor may range between 120 and 150 degrees 
Fahr. At the expiration of the forty minutes, the leather 
should be taken out of the drum and placed over a horse to 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 2/ 

drain twenty-four hours before being struck out, oiled on the 

grain and hung up to dry. This is the most approved method 

of applying fat-liquor to leather. Any one of the following 

receipts may be used with the assurance that the leather will 

be fat-liquored in a satisfactory manner. 

Receipt No. i. — For colored or black leather that is to be 

glazed, use for each hundred pounds of it 

Fig or Olive Soap i pound. 

Neatsfoot, Cod or Olive Oil 2 pounds. 

Moellon Degras 2 pounds. 

Caustic Soda i ounce. 

Boil the soap in six gallons of water; add the oil and boil ten 

minutes; turn off the steam and add the degras, stirring for 

five minutes. Dissolve the soda in a little water and stir it 

into the fat-liquor, which, after six gallons of cold water have 

been added, is ready for use. 

Receipt No. 2. — To make fifty gallons of excellent fat-liquor 

for chrome side-leather use 

Palermo Fig Soap 20 pounds. 

Wyandotte Tanner's Soda 5 pounds. 

French Moellon Degras. 100 pounds. 

Boil the soap in twenty-five gallons of water for fifteen min- 
utes. Shut off the steam and add enough water to bring the 
temperature down to 140 degrees Fahr. Then add the soda 
and degras and stir for five minutes. Do not boil the liquor 
after adding the soda and degras, but, after stirring thoroughly, 
fill the barrel up to fifty gallons. Two gallons of this fat- 
liquor thinned with six gallons of hot water fat-liquors one 
hundred pounds of leather. The drum should be warm and 
the fat-liquor should be at 130 degrees Fahr. when it is given 
to the leather. After the leather has been drummed in the fat- 
liquor forty minutes, take it out, rinse it in a tank of warm 
water and place it over horses to drain. 

If the leather is greasy after fat-liquoring, wash it in a drum 
in a solution of a few pounds of Wyandotte soda dissolved in a 
half-barrel of warm water. This fat-liquor is good for any kind 
of chrome upper leather; but it must be made according to 
the directions or the leather will come out of the drum greasy. 



28 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Receipt No. j. — For heavy English or storm grain leather, 

this is a good fat-liquor : 

Soap i}4 pounds. 

Tallow 4 pounds. 

German Degras 4 pounds. 

Sod Oil 4 pounds. 

Boil the soap until dissolved, then add the other ingredients 
and boil one-half hour. There should be twelve gallons of fat- 
liquor. Use at 130 degrees Fahr., in the usual manner. 

Receipt No. ^. — A good fat-liquor for one hundred pounds of 
colored leather is made of 

Good Fat-liquor Soap y^ pound. 

Olive Oil 2 pounds. 

Treated Cod Oil 2 pounds. 

Birch Oil 2 ounces. 

Salts of Tartar 3 ounces. 

Boil the soap in water until it is dissolved, then add the olive 
and cod oil and boil for twenty minutes ; then add the birch 
oil and the salts of tartar dissolved in a little hot water. Add 
water to make twelve gallons of fat-liquor and use at a temper- 
ature of 140 degrees Fahr. 

Receipt No. 5. — For grained chrome leather, either black or 
colored, one hundred pounds, use 

Soap },{, pound. 

Olive Oil 2 pounds. 

Moellon Degras 7 pounds. 

Strong Ammonia — . ^2 pint. 

Prepare the fat-liquor by boiling soap and oil, then add water 

to make twelve gallons and just before using add the ammonia. 

Receipt No. 6. — For one hundred pounds of colored or black 

grain make a fat-liquor of 

Castile Soap 1^ pound. 

Olive Oil 2 pounds. 

Moellon Degras 2 pounds. 

Salts of Tartar ... 2 ounces. 

Boil the oil, soap and degras one-half hour in six gallons of 
water, then add the salts of tartar and stir well. Have ten 
gallons of fat-liquor. After fat-liquoring, dip the sides one at 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 29 

a time into warm water and then let them drain until the next 

day before striking them out and hanging them up to dry. 

Receipt No. 7. — This is a good fat-liquor for one hundred 

pounds of dull finished leather. 

Fig or Olive Soap i pound. 

Neatsfoot Oil 4 pounds. 

Degras 2 pounds. 

Caustic Soda i ounce. 

Prepare this in the usual manner, adding the alkali last. There 
should be ten gallons of fat-liquor, and it should be used at a 
temperature of 125 degrees Fahr. 

Receipt No. 8. — This is a good fat liquor for leather colored 
with basic aniline dye. Dissolve four ounces of salts of tartar 
in three gallons of hot water, then stir in three pounds of 
French moellon degras and stir well. Add water to make 
twelve gallons and use it at a temperature of 140 degrees FaTir. 
This quantity is for one hundred pounds of leather. 

Receipt No. g. — Put ten pounds of Palermo Fig or other good 
soap into a clean barrel with ten gallons of water. Boil with 
steam until dissolved. Then take four gallons of neatsfoot oil 
and cut it by stirring into it a few ounces of borax dissolved in 
hot water. Add the oil to the soap and boil again ; then add 
six pounds of moellon degras and boil until the liquor is thor- 
oughly emulsified. Run in enough water to make forty gallons 
of fat liquor. Four gallons of this emulsion may be used for 
each dozen sides. 

Receipt No. 10. — For one hundred pounds of heavy grain 
chrome leather: 

Fig Soap I pound. 

German Degras • 3 pounds. 

Neatsfoot Oil 3 pounds. 

Sod Oil 3 pounds. 

Borax 4 ounces. 

Boil the first three ingredients in six gallons of water for one- 
half hour. Then add the sod oil and borax and stir thoroughly. 
Add water to make twelve gallons of liquor, which may be 
applied to the leather at any temperature between 125 and 140 



30 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

degrees Fahr. If the leather is greasy wash it in a warm solu- 
tion of Wyandotte soda. If the fat-liquor is not fully taken up 
by the leather, pour into the drum four ounces of salts of 
tartar dissolved in three gallons of hot water and run the drum 
fifteen minutes longer. The grain should receive a good coat 
of cod or neatsfoot oil before the leather is dried. 

Receipt No. ii. — For soft leather, colored or black, this fat- 
liquor is recommended : 

Fig Soap I pound. 

Neatsfoot Oil • • • 3 pounds. 

Moellon Degras 3 pounds. 

Salts of Tartar 4 ounces. 

Boil the soap and oil in four gallons of water ; then add the 
moellon degras and salts of tartar and stir five minutes. Add 
water to make twelve gallons of fat-liquor and apply to the 
leather at 135 degrees Fahr. Dip each piece of leather in a tub 
of clean, hot water after fat-liquoring, then drain it until the 
next day. 

Receipt No. 12. — Acid fat- liquor or sulphated oil is splendid 
fat-liquor material for chrome side leather. One hundred 
pounds of leather may be given five pounds of the oil diluted 
in twelve gallons of hot water. The drum should be warm, 
and the leather should be warmed also before it is given the 
fat-liquor. After the leather has been drummed in the fat- 
liquor forty minutes it should be rinsed off in clean, hot water, 
drained, struck out, given a coat of one part glycerine and 
three parts water, but no oil, and hung up, dried and finished. 

Receipt No. ij. — Dissolve four pounds of soda ash in the 
smallest amount of water that will dissolve it. Stir the solution 
into ten gallons of water in a barrel and then turn on steam 
and bring the water to a boil. Mix into the boiHng water 
twelve gallons of moellon degras and boil continuously for six 
hours; then add enough water to the fat-liquor to make forty- 
eight gallons. 

For smooth glazed, boarded and dull finished leather, either 
black or colored, use from two to two and a half gallons for 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 3 1 

each hundred pounds of leather. For boarded leather the 
smaller quantity and for soft mat stock the larger quantity 
should be used. A soap liquor, made by boiling chip or fig 
soap, may be used with the degras liquors. Any amount of 
soap can be used. The fat-liquor should be stirred before and 
after the soap is added and enough water should be used to 
make ten gallons of fat-liquor for one hundred pounds of 
leather. When the degras liquor is used alone and no soap is 
added to it give the leather from three to five per cent., thinned 
down with water and used at iio degrees Fahr. A good way 
to combine degras and soap is to make a soap solution by boiling 
one pound of soap to a gallon of water, making as many gallons 
as may be required in this way. Add to the necessary quan- 
tity of soap liquor from two to three quarts of moellon degras 
for one hundred pounds of leather; use at iio degrees and 
drum the leather in it forty minutes. For boarded, glazed and 
dull leather the mixture of oil and degras is most satisfactory; 
but for enameled leather degras fat-liquor should be used alone. 

Finishing Chrome Side Leather. 

After the leather has been fat-liquored, it should be placed 
over horses to press and drain until the next day, when it 
should be thoroughly struck out and oiled on the grain side. 
For glazed leather use one part neatsfoot and three parts paraf- 
fine oil, or equal parts of good olive and parafhne oils or treated 
cod oil, giving the leather a light coat and then hanging it up 
to dry. Dull finished leather may be oiled with treated neats- 
foot or cod oil, with dull Morocco dressing oil or with equal 
parts of neatsfoot and parafifine oils. The oil should be applied 
evenly over each piece of leather and it is best to warm it be- 
fore using it. No oil should be put onto the flanks. After the 
leather has been oiled it should be hung up to dry. The tem- 
perature of the room should be about So degrees, and there 
should be a good circulation of air so that the leather will not 
dry too rapidly or have a parched appearance. When dry, 
the leather is dampened and staked. The best way to dampen 



32 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

is to put about a dozen pieces of leather into hot water, leave 
them therein a few minutes, then pack them in a clean dry box 
and cover the pile with a thick layer of damp sawdust. The 
next day the leather should be in condition to be staked. After 
staking it is tacked out smoothly and allowed to dry. When 
it is dry, it is trimmed and seasoned for finishing. 

Dull Finish. — Give the leather a coat of finish ; hang it up 
to dry; then give another coat; dry and iron with a hot iron; 
then stake it lightly. Leather properly tanned and fat-liquored, 
after finishing in this manner, is soft and full and with a fine, 
tough grain. 

Glazed Finish. — Stake the leather after trimming; then give 
it a coat of finish and dry it. The next operation is glazing. 
Then give the leather another coat of finish, dry and stake it; 
then glaze again. If the finish is satisfactory;, oil with hot oil, 
using a good finishing oil or equal parts of neatsfoot and paraf- 
fine oil. This oil protects and preserves the finish. Only a 
light coat is necessary. The leather may require a third coat 
of finish and a third glazing to make it satisfactory. 

Boarded Finish. — Treat the leather the same as for smooth 
glazed. After the second glazing board it from head to tail, 
then across from side to side, oil it and it is done. Dull Eng- 
lish grain leather is given a good coat of seasoning, dried, 
rolled on a heavy jack with heavy pressure, then grained and 
oiled heavily with a mixture of neatsfoot and parafiine oils. 
To obtain a sharp and regular box grain, it is well to press the 
leather before boarding. A powerful press and sharp-cut rolls 
are necessary. After this has been done, the leather is boarded. 

Clearing the Grain. — Thorough cleansing of the grain is of 
importance in getting a clear and uniform gloss. Lactic acid 
diluted with water is rubbed into the grain and dried. The 
grain is then rubbed with a clean rag, given a coat of finish, 
dried and glazed. Frequently it is necessary to repeat the 
operation, giving two coats of the acid. Barberry juice also 
may be used for the purpose. 



the manafacture of side leathers. 33 

Finishes for Chrome Side Leather. ■ 
For Glazed and Bright Boarded Finish. 

Logwood Crystals 2 ounces. 

Whole Flaxseed 2 ounces. 

Nigrosine Black 2 ounces. 

Bichromate of Potash %. ounce. 

Vinette % pint. 

Blood I quart. 

Glycerine )-2 pint. 

Crystal Carbolic Acid i ounce. 

Boil the flaxseed one-half hour in one gallon of water, then 

strain and add the logwood, nigrosine and bichromate of 

potash. Then cool down to 90 degrees F. and add the rest of 

the ingredients. If there is less than two gallons of finish add 

cold water to bring the quantity up to two gallons. 

A bright glazed finish can also be secured by using the 

following finish. 

Ivory Soap i pound. 

Glue (frozen) i pound. 

Logwood Crystals 8 ounces. 

Nigrosine Black 8 ounces. 

Bichromate of Potash i ounce. 

Blood 8 quarts. 

Carbolic Acid 4 ounces. 

Boil the soap in eight gallons of water, and dissolve the glue in 

eight gallons of water. When dissolved add the soap solution 

to the glue solution. Then dissolve the logwood, nigrosine 

and bichromate of potash in eight gallons of water by boiling. 

When dissolved, cool down to 100 degrees F., and add the 

blood. Stir well and put in the carbolic acid. Use one quart 

of the glue and soap solution with two gallons of the blood 

solution. 

Dull Finish. — The seasoning for dull finish may be made of: 

Ivory Soap i pound. 

Neatsfoot Oil i pint. 

Whole Flaxseed }'^ pound. 

Beeswax 3 ounces. 

Nigrosine Black 3 ounces. 

Powdered Aloes i ounce. 

Wood Alcohol ^2 Pii^t. 

3 



34 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Boil the soap, oil, flaxseed and beeswax one-half hour in two 
gallons of water. Cool and strain. Then dissolve the nigro- 
sine in a quart of hot water and add ; and the aloes in the 
alcohol and add also. Stir the finish thoroughly and it is 
ready to be used. 

Gun-metal Finish. — To get this finish give the leather a coat 
of bright seasoning, dry and glaze, then stake it. Then apply 
one coat of the following finish, and when it is dry, iron the 
leather and oil it ofT with hot oil : 

Gum Tragacanth i ounce. 

Yellow Dye i^' ounce. 

Glaze Seasoning i gallon. 

Soak the gum tragacanth in two quarts of water for twenty-four 

hours ; then stir it into a solution. Dissolve the dye in a quart 

of water. Take one gallon of bright seasoning made according 

to the first formula and stir into it a quart of the gum solution 

and then add the yellow dye solution, a little at a time, stirring 

well until the color of the finish has changed from black to 

green-black. If too much yellow dye is used the leather will 

be too green, which is undesirable. 

For Oil or Storm-grain Leather. — For chrome-tanned oil 

grain this formula makes good finish : 

Gelatine i^ pound. 

Black Nigrosine 2 ounces. 

Olive Oil I pint. 

Ammonia ig pi^t. 

Dissolve the gelatine in two gallons of water, add the nigro- 
sine, and heat until gelatine and nigrosine are dissolved. Let 
the mixture cool, and just before it begins to thicken add the 
oil and ammonia; stir thoroughly. After the leather has been 
seasoned and grained, oil the grain with a mixture of neatsfoot 
and finishing oil, applied hot. 

Another finish for heavy grain leather is made of: 

Olive-green Soap y^ pound. 

M oellon Degras i quart. 

Irish Moss 4 ounces. 

Logwood Crystals 2 ounces. 

Nigrosine 2 ounces. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 35 

Boil in a gallon of water for twenty minutes ; cool and strain 
and add water to make two gallons of finish. Give the leather 
a liberal coat of the finish, and when half dry roll on a heavy 
jack, using heavy pressure ; then grain the leather and oil off 
with hot oil. The leather should be rolled while it is damp, as 
this causes a smoother grain and a more uniform break when 
graining. 

Finish for Colored Leather. — 

Ivory or Castile Soap i^ pounds. 

French Gelatine 3 ounces. 

Blood Albumen 3 ounces. 

Soak the soap in six quarts of water for twenty-four hours ; 
then soak the gelatine in a quart of hot water. When cool, 
mix into the soap and stir until dissolved. Soak the albumen 
in two quarts of warm water over night, then stir it into the 
soap. Take a quart of the finish and strain it into six quarts 
of water, 90 degrees F. 

Chrome Side Glove and Mitten Leather. 

Hides for glove and mitten leather should be thoroughly 
limed and bated and made as soft as possible. Pickling and 
tanning are done in the various processes that have been de- 
scribed. After the leather is tanned, spread it evenly and 
smoothly over a horse to drain until the next day. If the sides 
were not split before tanning, they should now be split and 
made ready for coloring. If they were split before tanning, 
they are ready for coloring as soon as they have drained over 
night. Washing should not be done until after the leather is 
colored, fat-liquored and dried. 

Coloring for Grain Finish. — The leather can be colored any 
shade that may be wanted by using wood, aniline or alizarine 
dyes. If yellow leather is wanted, the following process will 
be found satisfactory : 

Boil twenty-five pounds of gambier in twenty gallon.^ of 
water, then add one pint of muriate of tin and three ounces of 
tin crystals, stir thoroughly and then fill the barrel with water. 



36 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

For fifty sides use four pails of this gambier liquor. Mix it 
with two gallons of water ; and add to it one-half pound of 
picric acid and one-half pound of fustic dissolved in three gal- 
lons of hot water. Mix the color solution in a tub and use it 
at 90 degrees Fahr. Drum the leather in it one hour. 

Another and perhaps better way is to mix four pails of the 
gambier liquor and two gallons of water and to drum fifty sides 
in the solution for one hour. Then add the picric acid and 
fustic dissolved in four gallons of hot water and run the drum 
thirty minutes longer. Take the leather out of the drum and 
let it drain until the next morning when it should be fat- 
liquored. 

A light tan color that is suitable for this class of leather is 
obtained by dissolving two pounds of yellow fustic extract in 
six gallons of boiling water, then adding six or eight gallons 
of cold water, using the liquor at 130 degrees and drumming 
the leather in it for one-half hour. Then dissolve in a pail of 
hot water four ounces of titanium salts ; add this solution to 
the contents of the drum and drum the leather for fifteen min- 
utes ; then wash and fat-liquor it. These quantities of material 
are sufificient for one hundred pounds of leather. 

A darker tan is obtained by using four ounces of red fustic 
extract and six ounces of titanium salts in the manner described 
for light tan. 

Yellow shade is also obtained by using fustic extract and 
Auramine II. For one hundred pounds of leather dissolve two 
pounds of fustic and one-third of a pound of tin crystals in six 
gallons of boiling water and increase to ten gallons of liquor by 
adding water. Drum the leather in this one-half hour. Then 
add to the liquor in the drum six ounces of Auramine II dis- 
solved in two gallons of boiling water and run the drum twenty 
minutes, then drain the leather over night and fat-liquor it the 
next day. 

Fat-liqiior Receipt. — All of the fat-liquors described for 
chrome shoe leather are applicable to chrome glove leather. 
Or the following may be used: 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 3/ 

Olive Chip Soap 12 pounds. 

Glauber's Salt 3 pounds. 

Borax 2 pounds. 

Sod Oil 5 gallons. 

Cod Oil 3 gallons. 

Neatsfoot Oil i gallon. 

Boil the first three ingredients for one-half hour ; then add 
the oils and boil again for one-half hour; then fill up the barrel 
to make fifty gallons of fat-liquor. Use seven pounds of this 
fat-liquor for one hundred pounds of leather. Dilute it with 
hot water and use at 125 degrees Fahr., drumming the leather 
in it for forty minutes. 

After the leather has been fat-liquored, it should be struck 
out, oiled, hung up and dried. When dry it should be very 
thoroughly washed with clean cold water in a wash-wheel for 
two hours or until it is thoroughly clean. Hang the leather 
up to dry, and when dry lay it in piles for ten days before 
finishing it. 

Finishing. — Moisten the leather and stake it; then hang it 
up to dry. When dry, put it into the drum with three or four 
quarts of soapstone to fifty sides and run it for two hours, then 
stake it again and the leather is finished. Brushing the grain 
on a plush-wheel gives it a smooth finish that enhances the 
appearance of the leather. 

Chrome Bag and Belt Leather. 

Black chrome leather with a printed or boarded grain is be- 
ing used in the manufacture of hand and traveling bags and 
belts for personal use. The leather, when suitably fat-liquored 
and finished, is admirably adapted to these purposes, as it is 
strong, durable and waterproof. The main thing that must be 
guarded against is getting the leather too soft and greasy. It 
must be firm and dry, that is, greaseless. The sides are tanned 
in the same manner as for shoe leather, but are given less fat- 
liquor. It is desirable that the color penetrate through the 
flesh, so that the edges will show black and not blue. When 
the leather is greasy the grease strikes through the linings and 



38 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

is easily perceptible. The leather must be fat-liquored just 
enough to make it supple without being soft and stretchy. 
The grain is boarded two ways or printed with a box grain and 
then boarded. Belts made of this material are almost inde- 
structible, and bags give excellent satisfaction as regards ap- 
pearance and wear. The more novel the leather can be made 
to appear the better it is liked, as there is unceasing call for 
new things in these lines of leather goods. Prices range from 
1 6 to 20 cents per square foot. 

White Side Leather, 

White leather is used in the manufacture of baseballs, belts,, 
suspenders, etc. Bleached chrome leather is most suitable for 
such purposes, but there are also other processes of tanning 
that produce soft, tough white leather. 

Tanning with Sulphate of Alumina. The hides are worked 
through the preparatory processes in the same manner as for 
chrome leather. If they are split out of lime, they should be 
bated, washed and pickled with sulphuric acid and salt. If 
they are bated and pickled whole, the sides should be split out 
of the acid pickle. Pickling is essential for this leather as 
it makes the sides whiter than they are when not pickled. 
Pickling can be done in a drum by using one pound of sul- 
phuric acid, fifteen pounds of salt and fifteen gallons of water 
to each hundred pounds of sides. Drum the sides in this 
liquor one hour, then horse them up smoothly for twenty-four 
hours. To prepare the tan liquor boil in ten gallons of water 
twelve pounds of sulphate of alumina. In a pail dissolve in 
one gallon of water twenty-four ounces of bicarbonate of soda. 
Pour the soda solution very slowly and with constant stirring 
into the alumina solution. When mixed put the liquor to one 
side to cool down to 80 degrees Fahr. 

Put the pickled sides into a drum with ten gallons of water, 
one pound of Glauber's salt and three pounds of common salt 
for one hundred pounds of sides. Drum the sides in the solu- 
tion for twenty minutes, then drain off the liquor. Put into the 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 39 

drum ten gallons of lukewarm water and four pounds of salt 
and drum the sides in the brine for ten minutes. Then pour 
into the drum half of the alumina and soda solution and drum 
the sides in it for three hours. At the end of the three hours 
take the sides out and place them over a horse until the next 
day, then hang them up to dry. 

When the sides are dry put them back into the drum with 
eight gallons of water and drum them ten minutes ; then add 
the other half of the alumina-soda liquor and run the drum 
three hours. Horse the leather up for twenty-four hours, then 
hang it up to dry. 

Fat- liquoring with Acid Fat-liquor. — When the leather is dry 
let it lay in the crust in a clean dry room for ten days or two 
weeks; then dampen it with warm water preparatory to fat- 
liquoring. Acici fat-liquor or sulphated oil is the material to 
use as it imparts the necessary softness without discoloring the 
leather or making it greasy. The tanner can make his own 
acid fat-liquor or he can buy it ready for use. For each 
hundred pounds of dry leather use seven pounds of the oil and 
stir it into ten gallons of water at 95 degrees Fahr. until it is 
entirely dissolved. Put the moistened leather into the drum, 
start the drum and pour the oil solution through the gudgeon. 
Run the leather in the fat-liquor forty minutes : then let it 
drain over night. The next day strike out the grain and oil it 
with a mixture of French chalk, two parts of glycerine and four 
parts water. Apply this to the grain and then hang the leather 
up to dry. 

Finishing. — Finishing consists simply of moistening the 
leather, staking it and tacking it on boards. When dry and 
taken from the boards, if not soft enough, restake it; or if stak- 
ing does not soften the leather wet it and give it more fat- 
liquor. And if the leather does not seem to be entirely tanned, 
it can be put back into the drum and given more alumina and 
soda liquor, then dried as before. The appearance of the flesh 
can be improved by buffing it on an emery wheel. 



40 practical tanning. 

White Chrome Leather. 

An excellent imitation of alum leather is made by tanning 
sides in a one-bath chrome process, and then either bleaching 
the leather with borax and sulphuric acid or treating it with 
flour or both. Hides for this process should either be split 
out of lime, bated and pickled or bated whole and pickled, and 
then split. Any one-bath process of chrome tanning can be 
used. When the leather is tanned, wash it in a fairly strong 
and hot solution of borax for one- half hour. Then prepare a 
solution of sulphuric acid and water, made by adding acid 
to water until the solution is as sour as a lemon. Take the 
leather from the borax bath and wash it in the acid bath ; 
or drain the former out of the drum and put the latter in and 
wash the leather twenty minutes ; then wash it in clear water 
to remove the acid, after which it is ready for fat-liquoring. 

Treatment with Flour. — Drumming the leather in flour is 
another way to make it white. If the borax and acid treatment 
does not make the leather as white as is desired, the sides can 
be drummed in flour and water. The flour treatment can also 
be used alone, and the leather will be white enough for most 
purposes. 

The leather is washed after tanning, and is then given the 
flour treatment. About fifty pounds of flour are used for from 
fifty to one hundred sides according to size. The flour should 
be stirred with water before it is used. The leather should be 
drummed in the flour for about two hours; then it is fat- 
liquored. 

A suitable fat-liquor is made of soap and neatsfoot oil; or, 
better still, use acid fat-liquor dissolved in hot water, as de- 
scribed for alumina-tanned leather. From five to six pounds 
of the oil will fat-liquor one hundred pounds of chrome leather. 
Mix the oil into ten gallons of hot water and apply it to the 
leather after the flour treatment. Then hang the leather up to 
dry. When dry, dip the leather into warm water and place in 
a pile over night. 

Finishing. — Stake the dampened leather; then mill it in a 



THE MAx\UFACTUKE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 4 1 

closed wheel with powdered chalk or soapstone for one hour 
or longer ; after which, stake the leather again and it is ready 
for use. Properly tanned and fat-liquored, the leather finishes 
up very soft and white and is admirably adapted to the purpose 
for which it is intended. 

Good white leather can also be made by tanning the sides 
with alum, salt and flour, and then, after drying, dampening 
and fat-liquoring the leather with acid fat-liquor. White leather 
must be handled very carefully or it will become soiled and 
dirty. Chrome-tanned white leather is more satisfactory than 
alum-tanned if properly tanned and bleached. 

Chrome Side Patent Leather. 

Hides for chrome-tanned patent leather should be carefully 
selected after they have been unhaired. The grain must be as 
near perfect as grain can be. Only small pattern and plump 
hides can be made into patent leather, as large, spready and 
thin hides are of loose texture when tanned. After the hair 
and fine hair have been removed, the hides should be washed 
-from ten to twenty minutes in a wash-wheel. They are then 
ready to be bated. Hides intended for patent leather should 
be bated as low as possible in order that the leather may have 
fine grain and full feel. Bating, however, must be very care- 
fully done. If the hides are bated too much the leather will be 
loose and break coarse ; if not bated enough the grain will be 
harsh and tender. A thin grain is to be preferred to a thick 
one. The former will have more elasticity than the latter, and 

, therefore be less apt to crack. After the hides are bated they 
should be washed a few minutes in warm water to cleanse the 
grain, and then pickled. 

Pickling and Tanning. — For every hundred pounds of hides 
dissolve four pounds of sulphate of alumina and ten pounds of 
common salt in six gallons of boiling water; then add six gal- 
lons of cold water. Use this liquor cold and drum the hides in 
it one hour, then press or partly dry them for splitting. After 

the hides are split the grains can be shaved, and this will save 



42 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

putting them out for shaving after they are tanned. The grains 
are then ready to be tanned. 

Either the two-bath or the one-bath process can be used, but 
the latter is the best, as it gives more measurement and there 
is no sulphur to cause trouble after the leather is finished. 
Drum the grains in salt water; then give them the tanning 
liquor, and continue drumming until the leather is fully tanned. 
The leather can be washed, colored and fat-liquored in about 
the same manner that other chrome leather is treated, or it can 
be laid away for four or five days in one-bath chrome liquor. 
The layaway liquor is prepared by adding five gallons of 
chrome liquor to one hundred gallons of water. The leather is 
placed in this liquor and handled each day. The object of this. 
is to make the leather softer than it would otherwise be, and 
thereby reducing the quantity of fat-liquor required. Hides 
placed in a layaway do not draw and shrink as much as leather 
not tanned this way. The leather requires the same thorough 
washing that all chrome leather requires. After washing, it is 
ready to be colored. 

Coloring and Fat- Liquoring. — Coloring is done with logwood 
and striker. Only enough dye should be used to produce a 
good color ; and all surplus dye must be washed out. Fat- 
liquoring is done most satisfactorily with degras and soap, or 
degras may be used alone. When soap is used, prepare a 
liquor by boiling one pound of soap to each gallon of water. 
Then for every hundred pounds of leather add two quarts of 
degras to enough soap liquor to drum the leather in and run 
the leather in the fat-liquor forty-five minutes immediately after 
coloring. The leather is then struck out, oiled on the grain 
and hung to dry in a warm room. Drying should proceed 
rapidly so that the leather will dry firmer than when it is dried 
slowly. There are fat-liquors that can be used that make the 
leather sufficiently soft and dry without being degreased. Or- 
dinarily chrome patent leather must be degreased before it is. 
finished. 

When degras is used without soap, the fat-liquor is made as 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 43 

follows : Dissolve four pounds of soda ash in the smallest quan- 
tity of water that will dissolve it. Pour the solution into ten 
gallons of water and let it com6 to boiling point. Then add 
twelve gallons of moellon degras and boil steadily for four or 
five hours. Enough water should then be added to make fort)'- 
eight gallons of fat-liquor. Give the leather from three to five 
per cent, of this fat-liquor diluted with hot water and drum the 
leather in it for forty minutes ; then oil and dry it. Too much 
fat-liquor makes the leather too soft and mushy. As a rigid 
and firm foundation is required to prevent the varnish from 
parting, the leather must not be made too soft. 

Staking and Finishing. — When the leather is dry, dampen it 
with wet sawdust or hot water and give it a thorough staking; 
then tack it as tightly as possible. When the leather is taken 
from the frames it will be found to be sufficiently firm to be 
finished were it not for the grease in it that must be removed. 
Some of the grease given in fat-liquoring and some of the oil 
applied to the grain are not combined with the fibers and un 
less removed will cause the varnish to slip over the leather so 
that finishing becomes impossible. Degreasing is most satis- 
factorily done with naphtha. Where a great deal of leather is 
being made a naphtha plant must be installed or else the leather 
must be sent to naphtha works a::d degreased by those who 
make a business of extracting grease from leather. Degreas- 
ing can also be done by soaking the leather in naphtha for ten 
hours, then pressing out the naphtha and drying the leather. 
The action of naphtha on chrome leather is quite harmless and 
if the leather has been well fat-liquored and oiled no strength 
is lost through the degreasing operation. Sides for patent 
leather can be tanned with chrome liquor and then split to the 
desired substance and retanned. This improves their "break" 
of grain and softness of feel. Sulphide of sodium should be used 
with lime in preparing the hides for tanning. It gives the grain 
an appearance similar to coltskin, removes the fine hair and pro- 
duces fuller and plumper leather than lime alone or lime and red 
arsenic. All fine hair must be removed as it is one of the worst 



44 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

things to contend with in making patent leather. The sulphide 
of sodium can be mixed with pure milk of lime, say three 
ounces of the sulphide per side to a sufficient quantity of lime 
to process the sides in. When a drum is used the results of 
the process will be accomplished in five or six hours. The 
"hides are then taken from the drum, washed, unhaired and then 
washed again before they are bated. This is only one of several 
methods that can be followed. Hides that weigh more than 
forty pounds are not suitable for patent leather. 

• Vegetable Tanning Processes for Side Leather. 

In the manufacture of leathers from hides and kips that are 
finished upon the grain and intended for shoe purposes, various 
processes of tanning are employed. Hemlock bark and ex- 
tract liquors are used, the sides after splitting being retanned 
with some other tanning material, such as gambier and pal- 
metto extract. Hemlock extract is used in combination with 
quebracho liquor with excellent results. Hides are started in 
<juebracho liquor and retanned with some combination of ex- 
tracts. Palmetto extract is used alone, also in combination 
with quebracho extract. Gambier is one of the staple tanning 
materials. The leather it makes is soft and tough, and readily 
colored and finished in any desired manner. Good leather is 
also made by combining gambier with a chrome process. 

The tanning is done in vats provided with paddles by which 
the liquor is stirred ; also in pits or vats, in which the hides are 
suspended and not subjected to much agitation. The less agi- 
tation the hides are subjected to during tanning the fuller and 
plumper the finished leather is, epecially in the flanks and along 
the sides. A common process of tanning consists of tanning 
hides with hemlock bark liquor until they are struck through, 
and then retanning the grains, after splitting, with gambier and 
sumac or with palmetto extract. 

Several practical methods of tanning side leathers are out- 
lined in this chapter. 

Tanning with Hemlock and Quebracho Extracts. — One of the 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 4$ 

best combination-processes that a tanner can use is a combina- 
tion of quebracho extract and hemlock Hquors. Hemlock is a 
rather harsh tannage when used alone, and so quebracho is 
nearly always used with it, which helps to make soft, pliable 
leather and a good color. Quebracho also hastens the tanning 
and reduces the cost. 

The hides are limed, bated and washed and are then sub- 
jected to tan liquors, which are about two-thirds quebracho to 
one-third hemlock. This tannage can be used for tanning 
almost any variety of leather. The color is fair and uniform, 
and the reduction in the time consumed by the process is about 
one-third that required where bark liquors and layaways are 
used. The leather is readily colored any shade desired with 
very little or no bleaching. Where hemlock bark is not ob- 
tainable hemlock extract can be used in place of the bark 
liquor. 

The sides should first be suspended in a weak coloring liquor, 
the proportions of the two extracts being one-third hemlock 
and two-thirds quebracho. The coloring should take about 
twenty-four hours. The sides are then taken out and placed in 
a liquor of a strength of about ten degrees barkometer. x\s 
the tanning progresses the liquor should be strengthened each 
day until its strength is about thirty degrees. The tanning 
should not be hurried by using too strong liquor as this makes 
harsher and less desirable leather than a slower process in 
rather weak liquor. When the sides have become well struck 
through with the tan, which takes eighteen or twenty days, they 
are removed from the liquor, pressed and split. The grains 
are then retanned with hemlock and quebracho liquor, with 
palmetto liquor, with a mixture of gambier and sumac ; some- 
times retanning is necessary, depending upon the condition of 
the leather. 

Tanning with Quebracho and Palmetto Extracts. — A com- 
bination of these extracts makes full, plump and mellow upper 
leather. No hard nor fast rule can be laid down for the pro- 
portions of the two extracts but a liquor three fourths quebracho- 



46 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

and one-fourth palmetto will produce satisfactory leather. 
Both of these extracts are rapid tanners and the tanning may 
be completed in a comparatively short time. The combination 
may be modified according to the results that are obtained and 
the class of leather that is being made. 

Quebracho extract contains a large percentage of tannin and 
a small percentage of non-tannin. Palmetto extract contains a 
large percentage of non-tannin and a low percentage of tannin. 
By combining the two a good tannage is obtained that pene- 
trates rapidly and produces mellow and well-filled leather that 
can be easily colored or dyed black and finished in smooth or 
boarded finish. The hides are colored in a weak liquor, then 
transferred to a stronger liquor which is strengthened from day 
to day until the hides are tanned. Splitting and retanning 
completes the process. Retanning can be done with a com- 
bination of the two extracts or palmetto may be used alone. 

Tanning with Palmetto Extract. — A practical way to tan 
sides with palmetto extract is carried out in the following man- 
ner: The tanning is begun by nailing the sides on sticks and 
immersing them in an extract liquor beginning at 12 degrees 
barkometer and ending at 20 degrees, the time being about six 
days. Care must be taken to color every part of the hides 
alike. The sides are then taken ofT the sticks and passed into 
a 30 degree Baume palmetto liquor. In this liquor they should 
be handled twice each day so that the tanning may be uniform. 
In about six days the sides are tanned through ; they are then 
pressed and split. The retanning is done with a weak palmetto 
liquor 12 degrees Be., followed by a drumming in a 30-degree 
liquor for six hours until thoroughly tanned. The grain is 
made tough and strong and not loose or liable to " pipe." 

The grains of sides split out of lime can be readily tanned in 
a drum, also kips and light hides. They are started in a weak, 
cold palmetto liquor for one hour, the strength of which may 
be about 10 degrees barkometer. They are then tanned in a 
drum with a liquor 30 degrees Be., 51 Twaddell, at a tempera- 
ture of 75 degrees Fahr. For seven hundred pounds of hides 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 47 

four hundred and fifty pounds of extract are used. In from 
six to eight hours the stock will be tanned. It is then split or 
shaved and retahned with a lO-degree liquor. The leather 
may also be retanned in a drum for one hour with liquor 30 
degrees Be., 51 Twaddell, after which it is washed in lukewarm 
water. The water used for this washing may be used for color- 
ing a fresh pack of hides as they come from the beamhouse. 
The leather is then pressed and fat-liquored with soap and 
degras or other suitable fat-liquor and dried. The dry leather 
is then sorted and finished into black or colored leather. For 
colored leather it is advisable to retan with sumac and then 
apply the color. 

Tanning with Gambier. — The sides are started in weak liquor 
which is gradually strengthened by the addition of fresh gam- 
bier until it becomes fairly strong towards the end of the pro- 
cess Common salt serves a useful purpose in gambier tanning. 
It assists in making soft leather, in hastening the tanning pro- 
cess, and it prevents contraction of the leather fibers. It is 
well for the tanner to divide his tanning liquors into three sec- 
tions. In the first section the hides are colored ; in the second 
section the tanning goes forward until the leather is ready for 
splitting; in the third or last section the retanning or tanning 
after splitting is done. 

At the beginning the liquor may be four to five degrees 
barkometer. The liquor should be strengthened twice each 
day, the quantity of fresh liquor that is added depending upon 
the size of the vats and the strength of the liquor at the start. 
No exact rule can be laid down as the tanner must decide this 
and other questions by his judgment. The tanning should go 
forward steadily until the hides are tanned through ; then they 
should be split, retanned and fat-liquored. 

Combination Process. — An excellent tanning process in which 
hemlock, chestnut wood and quebracho extracts are used for 
tanning and quebracho and gambier or quebracho and palmetto 
extracts are used for retanning is carried out in the following 
manner: The hides are hung on sticks in a seven-degree hem- 



48 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

lock liquor. They are handled every day for three days, the 
liquor being strengthened up to ten degrees and finally up to 
twelve degrees. After the sides have been in the twelve-degree 
liquor twenty-four hours, they are passed into a sixteen-degree 
combination liquor, made of chestnut wood extract and que- 
bracho. This liquor is gradually raised to twenty degrees, the 
process requiring fourteen to sixteen days. The sides are then 
pressed and retanned. The retanning liquor is made up of 
quebracho and gambler or quebracho and palmetto extracts. 
The strength should be twenty-six degrees and the liquor three 
parts quebracho and one part gambler or palmetto. The 
grains are drummed in this liquor one hour, then left in piles 
for twenty-four hours, drummed again for one hour, piled down 
twenty-four hours, then washed and finished. This is a good 
tannage for many varieties of leather, such as bag and case, as 
well as upper. As described above it is most suitable for large 
heavy hides. 

Pressing and Splitting. — Before leather is split it is necessary 
to press it to get rid of the surplus liquor in it and to put it in 
good condition for splitting. Considerable moisture should, 
however, be left in the leather. When it is pressed too dry, 
the leather must be milled in a weak liquor to prepare it for 
the strong retan liquor and this milling pounds the grain and 
makes it loose and pipy. When there is considerable moisture 
in the grains they do not need to be milled in a weak liquor 
but can be put at once into the retan liquor. The more moist- 
ure there is in the grains the better the results will be. 

Retanning Processes. — Leather that has been tanned in hem- 
lock or combination liquors, no matter how it is to be finished, 
is improved by being retanned with gambler and sumac or 
with gambler and hemlock extract. 

Hemlock has excellent filling properties but it makes the 
leather somewhat harsh, and the black on such leather turns to 
a dull gray-black after a time. When the leather is retanned 
with gambler, the flanks are made fuller and firmer, the fibers 
are slightly contracted, the harshness is toned down, the leather 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 49 

is given a smooth feel and the color is less apt to fade. The 
retanning is done, of course, after the leather is tanned, pressed 
and split. 

The retanning is done most expeditiously in a drum, and in 
the following manner : Boil in eighty gallons of water, two 
hundred and fifty pounds of gambler. When the liquor has 
become fairly cool, skim ofif all foreign matter. Ten gallons of 
this liquor are sufficient for thirty average sides of leather, and 
the liquor is put into the drum with the leather and to it are 
added two gallons of dry sumac and as much water as is needed 
to make the leather wet without dripping. Run the leather in 
the gambier-sumac liquor for from thirty minutes to one hour. 
It should then be left in piles for twenty-four hours ; then 
scoured or washed, fat-liquored or dried, according to the kind 
of leather that is being made. Gambler and sumac used in 
this way improve the quality of the leather by making it firmer, 
tougher and more mellow. 

Palmetto extract may be used in place of gambler and sumac. 
Oak extract also produces results similar to gambler. » 

Gambier, hemlock and alum make a good retannage for hem- 
lock-tanned leather, especially bark-tanned kangaroo. The 
proportions of gambier and hemlock should be equal parts of 
each, the liquor being 25 degree barkometer. Twenty- five 
sides should be given four pails of the liquor and four pounds 
of alum dissolved in two gallons of water. Run the leather in 
this liquor for forty-five minutes, then pile it down over night 
and then hang it up to dry. When it is dry, the leather may 
be fat-liquored, colored and finished. 

Retanning with gambier and sumac may also be done as 
follows : Boil two pails of good sumac in forty gallons of water 
for fifteen minutes and allow the liquor to stand over night. 
The next day boil twelve and one-half pounds of gambier. 
Add the gambier liquor and ten pounds of salt to the sumac 
liquor. There should be fifty gallons of liquor. Drum fifty 
sides of leather in this liquor for one hour, the temperature of 
the liquor being 80 degrees Fahr. Then place the leather in 
4 



50 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

a pile for twenty-four hours, after which rinse it in warm water 
to wash off the spent sumac. This is a good retanning process 
for bark or extract tanned leather. Bark-tanned sides should 
be washed in warm water to which some salts of tartar have 
been added before they are retanned. After the retanned 
leather has been rinsed ofif it may be fat-liquored and dried or 
dried, then dampened and fat-liquored. 

Palmetto extract used alone and also in combination with 
quebracho makes a good retanning process. A combination 
of seventy-five per cent, quebracho and twenty-five per cent, 
palmetto is recommended for upper leather; also one of 
seventy-five per cent, quebracho and twenty-five per cent, 
gambler. 

One pint of bisulphide of soda added to each three gallons 
of retanning liquor helps the liquor to penetrate into the leather 
more quickly. The strength of the quebracho-palmetto and of 
the quebracho-gambier liquor should be from 24 to 28 degrees. 
Any one of these processes may be used in the retanning of 
hemlock and combination-tanned leather for colored and black 
upper leather, dull or bright printed grains and imitation 
kangaroo. 

Clearing the Grain with Alum and Salt. — Leather that is to 
be colored and finished into Russia leather is strengthened and 
cleared by being run in a drum in a solution of alum and salt. 
In thirty gallons of water fifteen pounds of alum and ten 
pounds of salt are dissolved. This quantity of liquor is suffi- 
cient for one hundred and twenty sides that have been retanned 
and washed. The leather is drummed in this liquor for thirty 
minutes,; it is then allowed to drain ofT and is then pressed and 
fat-liquored and dried ; or it may be drummed in the alum and 
salt liquor immediately after retanning, and then be washed 
and dried and dampened and fat-liquored at some later time. 
The solution of alum and salt clears the grain and improves it 
so that it will subsequently color more evenly and be stronger. 
This treatment is not advantageous for black leather, but it is 
of some value when the leather is colored light and fancy shades. 



the manufacture of side leathers. 5 i 

Coloring and Finishing Vegetable Tanned Upper 
Leather. 

Excellent results are obtained in the finishing of dull and 
glazed boarded grain leather, imitation kangaroo and black 
and colored Russia leather by giving the sides two applications 
of fat-liquor, one before and one after coloring. The outline of 
the process is as follows : After the leather has been split, re- 
tanned, pressed and shaved it is sammied and then weighed for 
the first application of fat-liquor. The drum is heated with 
live steam to 125 degrees F., and the leather is put in with a 
small quantity of water also heated to 125 degrees F., and 
drummed until the moisture is evenly distributed and the 
leather fulled. The fat-liquor is then rapidly and evenly ab- 
sorbed. Another way to moisten the leather is to dip it into 
warm water and place it in piles until it is softened through. 
This is less apt to pipe the grain than dampening in the drum. 
An excess of moisture in the drum or in the leather must be 
guarded against, as it prevents the proper absorption of the 
fat-liquor. 

The fat-liquor should be used at a temperature of 125 de- 
grees F. It should be poured into the drum through the 
hollow axle while the drum is in motion. A drumming for 
thirt)' minutes enables the leather to absorb all the fatty matter 
in the liquor, provided the leather and liquor have been 
properly prepared and used 

After the leather has received the first application of fat- 
liquor, it is rinsed ofT in clean warm water to free it from 
particles of leather fiber and fleshings which, containing oil, are 
apt to spot the leather while it is drying. Before the leather 
is hung up to dry, it should be placed on a horse for about 
four hours, which will allow it to drain and the fatty matter to 
assimilate with the tannin and to penetrate while warm into the 
stock. The leather is then hung up and dried. 

When leather is given two applications of fat-liquor, the first 
application should be at least half of the whole quantity used. 
Colored Russia leather can be given no better fat-liquor than 



52 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

sulphated oil. This material is also good for black leather. 
Any good fat-liquor of soap, oil and degras, however, can be 
used, but the ingredients must be thoroughly emulsified and 
of the best quality. 

Glazed and boarded grain leather is colored blue upon the 
flesh before the second application of fat-liquor and blacked 
upon the grain afterwards, although some tanners color flesh 
and grain at one operation. 

Colored Russia leather is usually bleached, mordanted and 
colored before second application of fat-liquor. 

After the leather is dry from the first application of fat- 
liquor, it is dampened and colored, then dried and dampened 
again for the second application of fat- liquor. Imitation 
kangaroo and dull grains are usually yellow-backed before the 
second fat-liquoring. After being fat-liquored the leather is 
dried again for finishing. Kangaroo calf and sides are some- 
times fat-liquored and dried, then yellow-backed, grain-blacked,, 
dried and finished. 

Palmetto and quebracho-palmetto tanned leather may be 
washed after retanning, pressed and fat-liquored with oil and 
degras and dried; it may then be dampened, colored, dried and 
finished. 

All kinds of combination-tanned sides can be handled in the 
following manner with satisfactory results : When the retanning 
is completed, the sides are washed and pressed to remove sur- 
plus liquor. Some tanners merely press thin leather and do 
not wash it. After pressing, the sides are shaved and fat- 
liquored. In some cases the leather is drummed in oil and 
and dried before it is fat-liquored. This is a good method to 
follow in finishing colored leather. A drum is heated with 
steam to lOO degrees Fahr., and one gallon of oil is used for 
each one hundred and fifty pounds of leather, weighed after 
pressing and shaving. The leather is run in the oil for forty 
minutes, then hung up and dried. A small quantity of sul- 
phated oil is recommended for this purpose, although any 
good oil may be used. After drying, the leather is weighed 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 53 

and dampened with warm water and placed in piles to soften. 
Then it is put into the drum and run with just enough water to 
soften all parts alike, when it is in condition to receive the fat- 
liquor. This method is pursued by some tanners, while others 
omit the oil and fat-liquor their leather after it has been drained 
and pressed. It is also good practice to run leather for colors 
in sulphated oil, then dry and color it and then fat-liquor it with 
the main fat-liquor. 

To fat-liquor leather, the drum should be heated with live 
steam to a temperature of 125 degrees Fahr., and the leather 
should be drummed in warm water until soft and full. The fat- 
liquor should be given to the leather in portions of one or two 
gallons at a time through the hollow gudgeon ; and after all the 
fat-liquor is in, the leather should be drummed for forty min- 
utes. Upon being taken out of the drum, the leather should 
be rinsed in clean warm water, drained and dried. When dry, 
the leather may be colored blue on the flesh and black on the 
grain or yellow upon the flesh and black on the grain, or it 
may be colored any shade with anihne dye, dried and finished 
with smooth or boarded or printed grain or into imitation 
k:angaroo leather. 

After leather has been fat-liquored and dried, it is advisable 
to let it lay in the dry condition for a week or longer to mellow 
before proceeding to color and finish it. As a fat-liquor for 
combination-tanned leather any one of the following formulas 
may be used. 

Fat-liquor Furmtdas. — i. Boil twenty-five pounds of potash 
soft soap in twenty-five gallons of water until dissolved. Then 
add to the soap fifty pounds of English sod oil and one and 
one-half gallons of neatsfoot oil and stir for five minutes. A 
iew pounds of moellon degras may also be added. Enough 
cold water is next added to make fifty gallons of fat-liquor. 
Twenty gallons of this fat-liquor will fat-liquor one hundred 
pounds of dry leather that has been run in oil before drying. 
The exact quantity to be used varies with the different tan- 
nages, as some require less than others. The quantity stated 



54 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

is the maximum. A smaller quantity will in some cases pro- 
duce the desired results. This is a good fat-liquor for colored 
or black combination tanned leather. 

2. Five pounds of soap and one gallon of moellon degras 
boiled and made into a fat-liquor with one-half barrel of water. 
This quantity of fat-liquor is sufficient for four hundred pounds 
of leather palmetto or quebracho-palmetto tanned. It may be 
applied to the leather after tanning or the leather may be 
drummed in oil, dried and then fat-liquored, dried and colored. 

3. A good stuffing for imitation kangaroo and dull printed 
sides is made of twelve pounds of German degras, twelve 
pounds of oleo stearine, five pounds of fish oil to each one 
hundred pounds of leather, dried after retanning and weighed 
after being dampened. Use at 130 degrees F. Pack down 
over night to harden, then set the leather out by hand and 
hang it up to dry. When dry, buff off the grain, trim and 
stake the leather; then dye the flesh yellow, black the grain 
and finish the leather. 

4. For hemlock, hemlock-quebracho and quebracho-palmetto 
tanned leather the following fat-liquor is recommended: Ten 
pounds of soap, four gallons of neatsfoot oil, ten pounds of 
degras to the barrel of liquor. Use at 125 degrees F,, prefer- 
ably after coloring, then set the leather out, oil the grain and 
dry the sides out. The leather, dried after retanning, is damp- 
ened and colored. The surplus water is then pressed out and 
the leather is fat-liquored. Heat the drum with live steam, 
drain out the condensed steam and run the leather in the warm 
drum a few minutes. Next add the fat-liquor, not more than 
a pailful at a time at intervals of five 'minutes, then another 
pailful, until the quantity is in the drum ; then let the drum 
run for forty minutes to give the leather time to absorb the 
fatty matter. Remove from the drum and horse up for some 
hours, then strike out; oil the grain with neatsfoot oil and then 
hang the sides up or tack them on frames to dry. Ten gallons 
of this fat-liquor is enough for twenty-five sides of twenty-foot, 
four-ounce leather. It is best to use this process after the 
leather has been dyed black or colored. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS, 55 

5. For bright printed or boarded grains another good fat 
liquor is : Tweh'e pounds of pure cod oil, two pounds of French 
degras, two gallons of thin, soft soap for one hundred pounds 
of damp leather. Apply at 125 degrees Fahr. The leather, 
after it is retanned, should be drummed for one hour in strong, 
warm sumac liquor, then rinsed, scoured on both sides and 
hung up to dry. When dry, dampen and fat-liquor with the 
liquor described above. After fat-liquoring, set the leather out 
and apply a light coat of oil to the solid part of the flesh side 
after it has been set out. The leather should be set out very 
tightly on both sides, since the tighter it is set, the finer and 
more even the grain is after the leather is finished. After the 
leather is dry, it is dampened and blacked with logwood and 
striker, dried again and then staked and finished. 

Receipts for Yellow Flesh. — After the leather that is to be fin- 
ished into imitation kangaroo has been fat-liquored and dried, 
the fiesh can be colored yellow by using five pounds of turmeric, 
one pound of sal soda, one pound of borax, one gallon of neats- 
foot oil boiled in ten gallons of water; then fill the barrel up 
with cold water and use twelve pails of the liquor for a drumful 
of leather. After the flesh has been colored, dry the grain 
with sig, logwood and iron liquor ; wash the leather and dry it 
out. 

Yellow flesh can also be obtained by using yellow aniline 
dye. The leather is dampened and placed in piles to become 
soft. One half pail of sumac is scalded for two hours in a 
closed vessel. To the prepared sumac four pails of water and 
one gallon of lactracine are added. This quantity of liquor 
suffices for sixty medium sides. It is used at 100 degrees Fahr., 
and the leather is drummed in it for twenty- five minutes, when 
it is ready for the yellow dye. Yellow S is a good dye to use. 
One pound of the same is dissolved in twenty-five gallons of 
water and applied to the leather at lOO degrees. The leather 
is then blacked on the grain, oiled off" and dried. Four pails 
of the yellow dye will color one hundred pounds of dry leather. 

Receipts for Blue Flesh. — To obtain a dark blue or black 



56 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

flesh, drum the leather in an alkaline logwood and fustic liquor, 
then apply iron striker either in the drum or by hand or on the 
grain side only. Or use the following process: Drum the 
leather in a solution of five or six ounces of titanium-potassium 
oxalate for one hundred pounds of dry leather for ten minutes, 
then pour alkaline logwood liquor into the drum and run the 
drum fifteen minutes ; then pour in another solution of titanium 
salts just like the previous one and run the drum ten minutes 
longer. Wash and finish the leather. If the leather is to be 
fat-liquored twice, give it the second fat-liquor after coloring 
and then dry it for finishing. 

To get a dark blue flesh with nigrosine, use eight ounces of 
the dye for each dozen sides. The dye is boiled in a few gal- 
lons of water and the leather is drummed in the solution for 
twenty minutes. The grain is then blacked with logwood and 
striker and the leather is dried out. A flesh color can also be 
obtained by using logwood liquor, to which nigrosine black and 
methyl violet aniline have been added. 

Finish for Bright Boarded Grain Leather. — Dissolve in three 
gallons of soft water, four ounces of logwood extract and four 
ounces of gelatine; when cold, add two ounces of ammonia, 
one gallon of beef blood, one pint of new milk, two ounces of 
muriate of iron, and two ounces of spirits of camphor. Mix 
one ounce of glycerine in milk before putting into the finish; 
then mix together, putting in the iron and camphor after the 
other ingredients have been worked together. Stir thoroughly 
after all the articles are together. 

The dry leather should be dampened, staked and tacked. 
Then dampen the grain before finishing with warm, weak log- 
wood liquor. As soon as the grain is dry, apply the first coat 
of seasoning, dry the grain and then polish with the jack. 
After polishing, dampen the leather, and let it lie a while to 
allow the dampness to penetrate evenly ; then grain from tail 
to foreshank and from hindshank to top of shoulder, and soft 
board crosswise on the flesh side. Let the leather dry, and 
then finish graining by boarding on grain side crosswise and 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 5,"* 

lengthwise. Then apply two very light coats of seasoning, the 
first being dried before the second is applied. After the last 
coat is dry, the leather is ready for the last polishing. Suffi- 
cient pressure should be used to cause the grain to disappear 
and to bring the brightness from the bottom of the impression 
of the print. After the polishing, the leather should be staked 
and then given the last graining. Grain four ways on the 
grain side, very lightly, and the result will be a fine, even grain, 
very black and glossy. The finishing touch is a light coat of 
hot oil, made of equal parts of raw linseed, paraflfin and sweet 
oils. After being oiled, the leather should lie in a pile for a 
few days before it is assorted and rolled into bundles. Leather 
that is properly tanned and fat-liquored and then finished in 
the manner described leaves nothing to be desired in the way 
of softness, color or finish. Dull boarded leather is made in 
about the same manner, with the exception that a dull season- 
ing is used. Printed grains are made by printing and graining 
the leather with the grain figure that is wanted. 

Finishing Bark-tanned Kangaroo Side Leather. — Bark- tanned 
sides that have been retanned with gambier, hemlock and alum 
should be dried and fat-liquored with degras, stearine and fish 
oil, then dried and the grain buffed. The flesh is then colored 
yellow and the grain is blacked with logwood and copperas and 
given a coat of paste made of two quarts of flour, ten quarts of 
water, eight ounces of tallow, four ounces of beeswax, two 
quarts of linseed oil. Boil these ingredients one-half hour, 
then add eight ounces of soap, three ounces of black nigrosine 
and boil fifteen minutes. Thin down with water and apply a 
fair coat to the leather; when dry, roll. A suitable finish is 
made of: Casein, one and one-half pounds; olive-green soap, 
one and one-fourth pounds ; tallow, one-half pound ; German 
degras, one-half pound ; fish glue, one and one-half pounds ; 
black nigrosine, one-half pound. Boil one hour, cool and add 
one pint of ammonia and strain. This when done will make 
six gallons. Now make up in another tub the following: 
Irish moss, one and three-fourths pounds ; olive-green soap, 



58 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

one and one-fourth pounds; borax, one-half pound; flour, two 
pounds ; nigrosine. one-half pound. Boil one and one-half 
hours, cool and strain. This when done will make six gallons. 
Mix one-half of the first and one-half of the second, finish and 
use it on the machine. It will give a medium bright finish. 
If the finished leather is too bright, use more of the moss finish. 
If a bright finish is wanted, omit the moss finish. Give the 
leather two coats of finish on the machine, and when dry, rolh 
If boarded kangaroo is wanted, the sides should be boarded 
before any paste or finish is put on. 

Some tanners prefer to give their kangaroo sides a light 
stuffing or fat-liquoring, then to dry them, dampen and color 
the fiesh yellow, then to give another application of fat-liquor 
and to color the grain with logwood and copperas after the 
second fat-liquoring. Others color their leather yellow on the 
flesh and black on the grain before the second application of 
fat-liquor. Any method may be used that produces the results 
that are wanted. 

A sig to be used on kangaroo sides may be made of twelve 
ounces of caustic soda and twelve ounces of salts of tartar 
boiled in ten gallons of water; then fill the barrel up with cold 
water. This is used to cut the grease out of the grain so that 
the dye can penetrate. 

A logwood liquor is made by boiling seventy-five pounds of 
chip logwood for two hours in eighty gallons of water. When 
done there will be one barrel of liquor. Before using, add one 
and one-half pints of ammonia and use at 105 degrees F. 

A black or striker is made of eight pounds of copperas, two 
and a half pounds of bluestone, one pound of nutgalls, four 
gallons of logwood liquor boiled in fifteen gallons of water. 
Fill the barrel with cold water and then add eight ounces of 
tincture or muriate of iron. 

Coloring Side Leather. — Leather that has been tanned in a 
combination of vegetable tanning extracts such as quebracho 
and palmetto or quebracho and hemlock or that has been 
tanned with one tanning extract and retanned with another or 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 59 

combination of extracts can be colored and finished into satis- 
factory leather by several methods of handling and treatment. 

The sides, when retanned, can be washed, pressed, fat- 
liquored and dried; then dampened and colored, refat-liquored, 
dried and finished. 

Another way consists of fat-liquoring the leather, drying it 
out and then dampening, coloring, drying and finishing it. 

Good colored leather is also made by drying the leather, 
then coloring and fat-liquoring it and then drying it for finishing. 

For colored Russia leather a fat-liquor of sulphated oil is 
recommended. The leather may be given an application of the 
oil, then dried and colored and after coloring it may be again 
run in a solution of the oil, then dried and finished. Leather 
that is dark from the tan must be cleared and bleached before 
it is colored, but leather that is clear and light- colored needs 
no bleaching, although it is advisable to drum it in sumac 
either after tanning and before drying or after the leather has 
has been dampened for coloring. 

To color one hundred pounds of dry leather use eight ounces 
of titanium salt. Dissolve the salt in warm water and drum the 
dampened leather in the solution for ten minutes ; then run the 
liquor out of the drum and put in the solution of aniline dye, 
and after running the leather in this until colored wash it and 
fat-liquor or refat-liquor it and dry it for finishing. 

A process of preparing the sides for Russia leather with 
sumac is carried out in the following manner: Wet the dry 
leather in a tub of warm water and place it in a pile for twenty- 
four hours to soften. Take one-half pail of sumac and scald it 
for two hours in a closed vessel. Add to it four pails of water 
and one gallon of lactracine, and put the prepared liquor into 
the drum with sixty medium sides. Have the temperature at 
lOO degrees Fahr., and run the leather in the liquor for twenty- 
five minutes; then drain the liquor out and run the leather in 
the color solution until it is colored the right shade, then rinse 
it, fat-liquor and hang it up to dry. 

Retanning with sumac is advisable for almost every tannage 



60 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

of leather. As it is done just previous to coloring it freshens 
up the leather and prepares it to take the dye. After being 
drummed in sumac, the leather is preferably treated with titan- 
ium salts and then colored with aniline dye. This process 
of coloring combined with proper fat liquoring with sulphated 
oil or oil and soap produces excellent colored leather. 

Vegetable Tanned Patent Shoe Tipping. 

The tanner who makes chrom.e leather from hides can real- 
ize greater profits from their poor-grained hides by working 
them into vegetable-tanned tipping than by allowing them to 
go through the works and then be sold for No. 3 chrome or as 
a job lot of culls. 

Good, strong tipping requires more liming than chrome 
leather. If the tanner will sort his hides after they are un- 
haired, he can have an extra lime-pit and make up a medium 
strong lime liquor, and all damaged grain hides can be put into 
this lime for from 24 to 48 hours, then put through the regular 
system of washing, working on the grain, bating, etc. 

After they are bated down well (tipping hides should be 
bated low, so as to make soft, strong leather) they should be 
started to tan by tacking on sticks and suspended in a weak 
sour liquor. If a non-acid tanning agent is being used, the 
liquor should be turned to the acid side by the use of lactic 
acid or Dermiforma. The first liquor should stand about 7 
degrees test with a barkometer. Allow the hides to remain in 
this sour liquor 48 hours, then handle them over into another 
pit, or else draw off the sour liquor and pump on a fresh sweet 
liquor of 10 degrees strength. If they are handled over into 
the next pit, they should be pulled out and laid in a pile to 
drain for two hours, in order that they will not carry too much 
of the sour liquor into the next pit. Allow the hides to remain 
in the lO-degree liquor 48 hours, then work them into a 12-de- 
gree liquor for 48 hours. Now work them into a i6-degree 
liquor and allow them to remain four days, but they must be 
Jiandled each day and their position changed, so that they will 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 6l 

not have any raw or kissed spots on them. After they have 
been in the i6-degree Hquor the required length of time, the 
hides are worked into a 20-degree Hquor and allowed to stay 
six days, when they are pulled from the sticks and allowed to 
lie in a pile for 48 hours. The hides are then pressed or put 
through a wringer so they will be in condition for splitting, or 
they can be run through a splitting machine with a corrugated 
roll without pressing or wringing. If they are pressed or put 
through a wringer they must be jacked on a stoning-jack to 
remove all marks. 

After they are jacked they are split at a 2^-ounce gauge 
and the grains are then retanned in a mill with sumac, using 
two pails of sumac to each dozen medium-sized sides. Boil 
the sumac in about twenty gallons of water and allow to stand 
until cool, then put in the leather and run from one to one and 
one-half hours ; then take the leather out and put it into a pile 
for twenty-four hours. Then give the leather another run in 
sumac liquor made the same way. The leather is piled down 
again and allowed to lie twenty-four hours. It is then dipped in 
a tub of warm water to wash off the sumac and after that it is 
scoured on the table. While it is on the table, give the leather a 
good coat of moellon degras slush, made up by dissolving four 
ounces of salts of tartar in three gallons of hot water and then 
stirring into the water two gallons of moellon degras. The 
leather is given a light coat of this slush, well rubbed in with a 
brush. It is now folded together and laid in a pile for 24 hours^ 
and then tacked out on frames. When dry it is buffed by hand, 
and either staked or soft boarded and pin blocked to soften, 
when it is ready to japan. Leather treated in this way does not 
require degreasing, provided a first-class moellon degras is 
used. 

Another Retanning Process. — A good way to fit bark-tanned 
leather for patent shoe tipping is to split and shave it on the 
machine, then for fifty medium-sized sides dissolve three pounds 
salts of tartar (carbonate of potash) in fifty gallons of water 80 
degrees Fahr., and run in a mill for one-half hour, then drain 



62 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

and wash for fifteen minutes, when the leather is in good con- 
dition for retanning. 

The retan liquor is made as follows : Boil two pails of sumac 
in forty gallons of water ten minutes, allow to stand over night. 
In the morning dissolve twelve and one-half pounds of gambler 
and ten pounds of salt and add to the sumac liquor. There 
should be fifty gallons in all. Run the sides in this retan 
liquor one hour, using the liquor at 8o degrees Fahr., then pile 
down on floor for twelve to twenty-four hours and then throw 
into a tub of water to wash ofif the spent sumac. 

The fat-liquor is made of soap, cod oil and moellon degras. 
Boil one pound of fig soap until dissolved, add four and one- 
half pounds of cod oil and boil one-half hour, then turn ofif 
steam and stir in four and one-half pounds of moellon degras 
of the best grade and mix thoroughly. Now add four ounces 
of salts of tartar dissolved and fill the barrel with water to make 
fifty gallons of fat-liquor. Use at no degrees Fahr. Run the 
leather in 'the fat liquor for half an hour, then put it out and 
tack it on frames; when dry, buff the grain and stake. This 
process makes strong, fine tipping leather that can be easily 
japanned. 

The Manufacture of Bag and Case Leather. 

The first essential in the manufacture of bag and case leather 
is good hides, preferably green salted, that are clear on the 
grain and free from butcher cuts. When the hides are selected, 
trim off the heads and shanks and put the hides into clean soft 
water. The best way to soak the hides is to suspend them in 
the water and allow them to hang twenty-four hours ; then take 
them out or run off the water and fill the vat with fresh water 
and soak the hides twenty-four hours longer. Then split the 
hides into sides, taking care to keep the backs straight. Five 
pounds of borax dissolved and added to one thousand gallons 
of water helps materially in softening and cleansing the hides. 
After the hides are split into sides, they are fleshed. The sides 
are then put into clean cold water over night, then put into lime. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 63 

Liming. — Liming usually requires six or seven days. Eight 
pounds of lime and two pounds of sulphide of sodium for one 
hundred pounds of hides are sufficient. The first lime should 
contain one and a half pounds of lime. Add the lime, thor- 
oughly slacked, to the water in the pit or vat and plunge it well. 
Then reel the sides into the liquor, taking care to spread them 
out well. After being in this lime twenty- four hours, the sides 
should be reeled into the second lime, which should contain 
the same quantity of lime as the first lime. The third lime also 
should contain one and one-half pounds of lime for one hun- 
dred pounds of hides; and after being in the second lime 
twenty-four hours, the sides are reeled into this, and left in the 
same twenty-four hours; they are then passed into the fourth 
lime, and after twenty-four hours, they are put into the fifth 
lime. The liquor in this lime should be warmed to 65 degrees 
Fahr. before the sides are put in, and it should contain one 
pound of lime for each hundred pounds of hides. The sixth 
lime, into which the sides should be reeled after being in the 
fifth lime twenty-four hours, should contain one pound of lime 
and two pounds of sulphide of sodium for one hundred pounds 
of hides. This lime should be heated to 75 degrees Fahr. and 
the hides allowed to remain therein for twenty-four hours, and 
then be passed into warm water. After lying in the warm water 
two or three hours, the sides are in condition to be unhaired. 

The sulphide of sodium should be dissolved in a barrel and 
the solution allowed to settle before it is used. The clear liquor 
is then mixed with the lime. Dissolving the sulphide this way 
is for the purpose of preventing dark stains on the hides, due 
to iron in the sulphide. After the hides are unhaired they are 
washed with running water for fifteen minutes, then placed in 
water at 80 degrees Fahr., after which they are worked by hand 
over the beam and then put into the bate. 

Liming can also be done by immersing the hides in a solu- 
tion of sulphide of sodium, six degrees barkometer, for three 
days, hauling them out each day and plunging the liquor. 
After the hides have been in the liquor three days, they are 



64 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

washed with warm water and then limed two or three days, 
being handled at least twice, and using two pecks of lime for 
every one hundred sides. They are then washed and bated. 

Bating, — This process should be accomplished by using 
either a bacterial bate or one made of sour glucose and lactic 
acid, as described for chrome side leather. The hides require 
a clean bate so as not to become stained, and they need to be: 
well bated so as to have a soft and clear grain. 

Pickling. — For every hundred gallons of water in the vat use 
thirty pounds of salt, and when this is dissolved add ten pounds 
of salt and one and one-half pounds of sulphuric acid for each 
hundred pounds of hides as they come from the bate. The 
sides may be run in the liquor two hours, then left in over 
night or several hours, and then placed over horses to drain for 
twenty-four hours before they are tanned. 

Tanning. — Hemlock and quebracho extracts used in con- 
junction make an excellent tanning process for bag and case 
leather. The liquors are preferably about two-thirds quebracho 
and one-third hemlock. The sides are nailed on sticks and 
suspended in a weak coloring liquor for about twenty-four 
hours. This produces plumper leather than a paddle vat. The 
sides are then put into a liquor of about lO degrees barkometer. 
Each day the liquors are strengthened until they are about 30 
degrees. When well struck through with the tan the sides are 
pressed and split. The grains may be retanned in a drum with 
hemlock-quebracho liquor or with palmetto liquor, and then 
colored and finished. Tanning with hemlock and retanning 
with a combination liquor is done as follows : The sides are 
tacked on sticks and hung into a seven-degree hemlock liquor. 
They are handled every day for three days, and the strength of 
the liquor is gradually raised to ten degrees. After being in a 
twelve- degree liquor twenty- four hours the sides are put into a 
combination liquor made of chestnut-wood extract and que 
bracho extract. The strength at first is sixteen degrees, but 
this is gradually raised to twenty degrees, taking sixteen days 
to do it. The leather is then pres.sed and split; the grains 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 65 

then retanned. The retanning liquor should be three parts 
quebracho and one part gambler; strength about twenty-six 
degrees and the leather milled in it one hour, then placed in 
piles for twenty-four hours, after which it is in condition to be 
bleached and colored. 

Another good tanning process consists of two-thirds hemlock 
and one-third oak bark. The hides are first colored in a sour 
liquor, then put into the tan liquor seven degrees barkometer, 
handled each day, and liquor added until the tan is ten to 
twelve degrees. When well struck with the tan the hides are 
pressed and split. Retanning is done with either quebracho 
and sumac or quebracho and gambler. If the former is used 
the liquor should be twenty degrees barkometer, two-thirds 
quebracho and one-third sumac. Running the leather in this 
liquor one hour accomplishes its retannage, after which it is 
ready for coloring and finishing. ■ 

It is sometimes advisable to drum the sides in a solution of 
borax and then in an oxalic liquor after they are split and be- 
fore retanning in order to clear the grain and bleach it. The 
leather is first run in a borax solution for twenty minutes and 
then washed. It is then run in a solution of two pounds of 
oxalic acid in fifteen gallons of water for ten minutes, then 
washed free of acid and retanned. 

The usual practice, however, is to bleach leather that re- 
quires it, after it is retanned. The leather should not be pressed 
too hard for splitting. The more moisture there is in the grain 
when retanned the better the results are. When leather is 
pressed dry for splitting the grains should be milled in weak 
liquor before they are retanned, and this extra milling makes 
them loose and pipey. One quart of bisulphide of soda added 
to each six gallons of retan liquor helps the liquor to penetrate 
more quickly. Excellent leather is made by tanning the sides 
in a one-bath chrome process, then washing and retanning 
them. Retanning is then done with quebracho and chestnut 
oak extract in the proportion of three parts of the former and 
two parts of the latter. The liquor should be twelve degrees 
5 



66 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

barkometer at the start, strengthened to eighteen degrees the 
next day, and to twenty four degrees on the third day. Each 
night the hides should be taken out of the hquor and piled 
down until the next morning; then put into the strengthened 
liquor. After retanning for three days, the sides are placed in 
a pile until the next day, when they are pressed and split. 

Bleaching and Coloring. — From twenty-five to thirty sides, 
after retanning, make a convenient sized pack. A solution of 
six pounds of borax in twenty-five gallons of water is put into 
the drum with the sides and the drum is run fifteen minutes. 
The temperature of this bath should be iro degrees Fahr. 
The leather should then be rinsed with warm water and then 
given a bath of sulphuric acid. Add two quarts of the acid to 
twenty-five gallons of warm water and mill the leather in the 
solution fifteen minutes. Then the acid bath is drained off and 
the leather is thoroughly washed until all acid is washed away. 
A sumac bath is prepared by boiling two pails of sumac in 
about eight pails of water, and the leather is drummed in this 
thirty minutes, then rinsed in clear warm water, slicked out on 
the flesh and then colored. 

Some tannages require more bleaching than others. Hem- 
lock and quebracho make a nice clear, light-colored leather 
that needs very little bleaching. Treatment with sumac is 
always beneficial to leather that is to be colored. 

Fat-liquoring with soap and egg yolk or with soap and degras 
is done after the leather is colored. The leather is then drained, 
slicked out on the flesh and grain and tacked on boards to dry. 

Finishing Rough Leather. — Rough leather selected for bag 
and case leather should be of a nice light color, of soft tannage 
and free from scratches, grubs, salt and bark stains. The best 
results are secured from sides that measure when finished about 
twenty-four feet. Fourteen pounds weight to the side should 
be the limit. The rough leather should be weighed and trimmed. 
Twenty-five sides make a convenient-sized pack. Wet them 
down over night and then stone them out on the jack in the 
morning. Skive them on the belt knife machine and then 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 67 

split them from two to four and a half ounces per foot. The 
lighter leather will be most suitable for suit cases and the 
heavier leather for bags. 

The next process is washing with borax preparatory to 
bleaching. If the leather is dark, dirty and greasy, more borax 
is required than for light, clean stock. Use twenty-five gallons 
of warm water and from one to six pounds of borax for the 
twenty-five sides. Run the leather in this borax solution 
fifteen minutes. Then drain off the water and wash the leather 
in warm water to remove the extra tannin and the borax. The 
leather is then ready for the acid bath. 

Mix one gallon of sulphuric acid into thirty gallons of water 
and run the hides in the solution ten minutes; then drain the 
liquor out of the drum and wash the leather with three or four 
changes of water, using at least twenty-five gallons at each 
change. The leather should be washed until no trace of acid 
can be detected by the taste in the water coming from the 
drum. More or less acid may be used according to the re- 
quirements of the leather. 

Next have the drum clean and empty. Put the sides into 
it with a strong and hot sumac liquor and drum them in it for 
one-half hour. Some tanners add a teacupful of tin crystals 
and a cup of muriatic acid to the sumac liquor, others add only 
salt. Take the leather out and place it in piles for twenty-four 
hours; then rinse it in clear warm water to wash ofif the sumac 
and strike the flesh out hard. If the sides are to be colored in 
a drum, they are now in good condition for the process. If 
they are to be dried first give them a coat of cod oil on the 
grain and tack them on frames to dry. 

The leather should be run in the color bath thirty minutes, 
then rinsed and horsed up. One way to treat it is to hang it 
up to dry after rinsing without setting it out, as setting works 
the dye into the flanks and sides. After the leather is dry it 
may be dampened, set out on the grain, given a light coat of 
oil and tacked on frames to dry. Another way consists of fat- 
liquoring rather lightly after coloring, using fig- soap and egg- 



68 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

yolk in equal proportions ; then horsing the leather up for 
twenty four hours, slicking hard on flesh and lightly on the 
grain, then tacking out to dry. When dry the leather is sea- 
soned and finished. Coloring in a drum is the preferred method 
as it is easier to get uniform coloring than when the dye is 
applied by hand. If plain russet leather is wanted, the leather 
is taken after rinsing from the sumac bath and finished without 
coloring. 

Finishing. — After the sides are dry, stake them and give 
the grain a coat of cornmeal filling. This is made by boiling 
slowly for thirty minutes one quart of dry cornmeal in a gallon 
of water. Allow the paste to cool, then strain it and give the 
leather a good coat, rubbing it in hard. When it is struck in 
well, roll the leather and hang it up to dry. It is then ready 
for the seasoning. 

The following receipt makes a good waterproof finish for 
colored bag and case leather: Put a gallon of formaldehyde 
into a jug, and dissolve in it three pounds of casein. Keep 
the jug tightly corked. Then dissolve one pound of dextrine 
in a gallon of water and add one pint of vinette ; stir well. 
Boil two ounces of cornstarch in two quarts of water and stir it 
into the dextrine-vinette mixture. Take one-half pint of the 
dissolved casein and add it to finish ; strain the mixture well 
and then apply it to the leather. 

Another receipt for a finish is as follows : Boil in one gallon 
of water, stirring until dissolved, one-half ounce 4F ammonia, 
two ounces O shellac and two ounces casein. Allow the solu- 
tion to become cold ; then add one gallon of water and one- 
half ounce of glycerine, mixing all together. Apply with a 
sponge evenly over the leather, then dry it. When dry, the 
leather is glossed on the machine, then grained and embossed 
or printed. 

Equal parts of frozen glue, Irish moss and flaxseed also 
make a good finish. 

For colored and russet leather the following finish is also re- 
commended : Dissolve four ounces of blood albumen in one 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 69 

gallon of water over night. Cook four ounces of granulated 
gelatine in one gallon of water and let it cool. Mix half a pint 
of white varnish shellac with half a pint of ammonia. Mix 
these three materials together and add enough water to make 
three gallons. Let this finish stand a week before using it. 
Apply with a sponge. For bright finish, dry and glaze. For 
dull finish, give two coats and roll while wet; then hang up to 
dry, and when dry give another coat. Finish by graining, 
printing or embossing. 

The following seasoning gives a nice black luster that is last- 
ing: Add eight ounces of logwood extract, one ounce of bi- 
chromate of potash and two ounces of prussiate of potash to 
two gallons of water and boil until dissolved. When cool, 
strain. To each gallon of the above add two quarts of beef 
blood or of blood albumen. Give one even coat and let it 
dry; then print, emboss and grain to get the desired figure, or 
finish smiooth as may be desired. 

Finishing Imperfect Grains into Patent Tipping. 

Among hides tanned for bag and case leather upon which a 
perfect grain is essential, there are found after the hides are 
split grains that are imperfect and therefore not suitable to be 
finished with the more perfect grains. Such grains can be 
made into patent tipping, upon which, the grain being buffed 
off, the imperfections will not be noticed. 

The grains are taken from the splitting machine and washed in 
water at 90 degrees Fahr., to which one and one-half pounds of 
borax or washing soda to each fifty sides has been added, there 
being fifty gallons of water. In this water the grains are washed 
for one-half hour; they are then washed in clean cold water 
for fifteen minutes. 

Retanning is done with fifteen gallons of one-bath chrome 
liquor, 25 degrees Baume scale, dissolved in a barrel of water. 
The grains are run in a drum with this liquor for from one to 
two hours ; then piled down over night. The next morning 
they should be washed for twenty minutes in running water. 



70 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Three quarts of extract of fustic are dissolved in one -half bar- 
rel of water arid the leather is drummed in the solution one- 
half hour, after which it is fat-liquored. 

Fifty sides may be fat-liquored with two pounds of neutral 
chip soap and nine pounds of the best moellon degras in fifty 
gallons of water. The leather is run in this fat-liquor one-half 
hour and then placed in a pile over night. To prepare it for 
finishing it is set out and tacked on frames to dry. When the 
leather is dry it is buffed and staked; it is then in condition to 
be japanned and finished. 

The Manufacture of Goodyear Welting. 

The best welting is made from plump hides weighing fifty to 
sixty pounds and tanned expressly for welting. Welting is 
also made from the shoulders of belting butts, but such leather 
is harsh and brittle and not as satisfactory as that made from 
upper leather. The hides are soaked in the usual manner, 
thoroughly limed and bated down low to give a fine grain. 
The tanning should be done somewhat slowly and the tannage 
should be mild to prevent drawn and rough grain from too 
strong liquor. Any good upper leather tannage is suitable for 
welting. Hemlock and quebracho used in combination pro- 
duce good leather. The proportions may be one part hemlock 
and two parts quebracho. The sides are suspended in weak 
coloring liquor for about twenty-four hours; then they are- 
transferred to stronger liquor which is strengthened up from 
day to day until the sides are well struck through. Oak tan 
and oak and hemlock also make good welting leather. Leather 
tanned in weak liquors finishes softer and tougher than leather 
rushed through strong liquor. When the hides are well struck 
with the tan they are put 'in the press and made ready to be 
split. Before the leather is split, however, it is cropped and 
the bellies are sent back to be retanned. The backs are split 
six to eight ounces, according to the weight desired, and are 
then put into a drum and retanned in a strong gambier liquor. 
Palmetto extract may be used in place of gambier, but sumac 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. /I 

should not be used as it has a tendency to make the grain 
coarse. 

The next process is bleaching to remove the stains from the 
splitting machine. The leather is run in the drum- for thirty 
minutes in a solution of borax, using six pounds of borax to 
forty gallons of water at lOO degrees Fahr. After this the 
leather is washed in clear water to remove the borax; then it 
is milled in a solution of sulphuric acid, using one pint or more 
of the acid to forty gallons of water and running the leather in 
it for twenty minutes. The leather is then washed in clear 
water and fat-liquored. 

Any good fat-liquor may be used, but the best results seem 
to be secured when neatsfoot oil and chip soap are used. The 
leather is drummed in warm water to warm it and then given 
the fat-liquor. It is next dried and sammied and set out very 
thoroughly. A light coat of cod oil cut with twenty-five per 
cent, of paraffine is then given to the grain ; the leather is then 
turned over and struck out on the flesh, a light coat of fat- 
liquor being then applied to the flesh and the leather hung up 
to dry. When partly dried, the leather is taken down and re- 
set with a heavy slicker, then dried and put in press. The 
leather is neither rolled nor pressed and no finish is applied. 
If the work is carefully done, the grain has a light, clear color 
that readily absorbs any stain or color that may be applied. 
Rough leather of soft tannage makes good welting when fin- 
ished in this manner but it must be firm and pliable and not 
harsh and brittle as so much welting is. 

The shoulders of hides, the butts of which are made into 
belting, cut from the hides before they are tanned are largely 
used as welting. After the shoulders are tanned they are run 
through the splitting machine and leveled. They are then 
bleached with sulphuric acid after a borax bath as described, 
washed with clear water, scoured, hung up to dry and when 
they are in condition they are rolled on the sole leather roller. 
A coat of oil is then given to them and they are then dried 
out, receiving no other finish of any kind. This shoulder welt- 



72 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

ing is never as good as that made from the backs of upper 
stock treated in the manner that has been described. Shoulder 
welting tanned with oak is preferred to other tannages. 

How TO Prepare Hides for Tanning into Lace Leather. 

Soak salted hides twenty- four hours, then put them into a 
wash drum and wash them a half hour; then soak them 
twenty-four hours longer, flesh them and they are ready to be 
limed. Dry hides make good lace leather. Soak them in 
water containing some sulphide of sodium, say twelve ounces 
to each hundred gallons of water, for forty-eight hours, then 
put them in a mill and run them half an hour, then put them 
back into the old soak and soak them twenty-four hours longer. 
If the hides do not appear soft enough at the end of this time, 
place them in a pile over night and then either drum them 
again or put them in clean water for twenty-four hours. The 
hides, when sufficiently soft, are run through the fleshing 
machine and then started in the lime. In handling dry hides 
through the beamhouse it is safe to estimate their weight from 
green hides of the same size. Lime them about as long as for 
chrome shoe leather, using lime and red arsenic, which keep 
the hides flat, thus making long and tough fibers. Sulphide of 
sodium plumps the hides too much for l^ce leather. 

After the hair has been removed, bate the hides with lactic 
acid. Warm sufficient water up to 90 degrees Fahr., put into 
it one quart of lactic acid and eight pounds of salt for every 
hundred pounds of hides. Run the hides in the paddle-vat one 
hour, then leave them in the liquor over night. The next 
morning run the paddle one hour, then take out the hides, 
wash them in warm water and then pickle them. 

For each hundred pounds of hides use ten pounds of salt dis- 
solved in fifteen gallons of water, adding one and one-half 
pounds of sulphuric acid, this liquor being put into a drum with 
the hides and the latter drummed in it one hour and a-half, 
then placed over horses to drain a few hours before tanning. 
Tan the hides in this manner: Weigh the pickled hides. For 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 73 

every hundred pounds of hides dissolve two pounds of Glauber's 
salt and five pounds of common salt in twelve gallons of water. 
Drum the pickled hides in this solution thirty minutes, then 
drain the liquor out of the drum and throw in six pounds of 
salt and twelve gallons of water for each hundred pounds of 
skins and drum the hides fifteen minutes. Concentrated chrome 
liquor should then be poured into the drum and the tanning 
continued until the hides are tanned through. Twelve pounds 
of chrome material dissolved in three gallons of hot water, and 
the solution increased to twelve gallons by the addition of cold 
water, will tan one hundred pounds of hides. 

Pour the liquor into the drum in portions of two gallons at a 
time at intervals of one-half hour, then drum the hides in it for 
six hours and let them lie in it over night, adding water to the 
liquor to make it sufficient to cover them well. In the morning 
run the drum three hours or longer until they are tanned 
through. Place the leather over horses to drain twenty-four 
hours, then wash it in warm borax water thirty minutes and in 
cold water one hour. The leather, tanned and washed, is next 
pressed and split. The splits can be finished into gussett 
splits, into glove leather or into lace leather. The split lace 
leather will be just as durable as the grain leather, but it will 
not look quite so nice. 

If yellow lace leather is wanted, color it with extract of fustic 
and yellow dye before fat-liquoring it. If white leather is 
wanted, wash it in hot borax water, and then in water containing 
some sulphuric acid, then in clean water before fat-liquoring it. 

The description that follows relates to a method of making 
leather especially suitable for belt, shoe and leather laces by 
the chrome process of tanning. 

The hides are treated in the preparatory processes of un- 
hairing, bating, washing, etc., the same as any hides are treated 
for a chrome process. The first step in the making of the 
leather consists of drumming the hides in a drum, or paddling 
them in a vat in a solution of alum and salt. This is made up 
of two pounds of alum and four pounds of salt for each hun- 



74 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

dred pounds of hides. In this liquor the hides are treated 
until they have absorbed it. The hides carry sufficient water 
as they come from the last washing to dissolve the alum and 
salt. After this treatment, the hides are allowed to press, 
drain and partly dry, when they are split and shaved. The 
tanning is then completed by drumming the hides in a one- 
bath chrome process, after which they are again washed and 
partially dried to get them in proper condition for fat-liquoring. 

The fat liquor is made as follows: Four ounces of common 
potash, or other alkali, are boiled in one-half gallon of water 
until dissolved; then two pounds of any good degras and four 
pounds of tallow are added, and the whole brought to a quick 
boil. The compound requires to be thoroughly cooked. Then 
one-quarter gallon of neatsfoot oil is added, and the mixture 
stirred until the temperature reaches a little below boiling- 
point. The fat-liquor, while hot, is applied to the leather, the 
quantity named being used for one hundred pounds of leather,, 
at a temperature of 150 degrees Fahr. 

After the leather is fat-liquored, it is struck out and oiled 
off on the grain side with a light coat of neatsfoot oil, then 
stretched in frames until dry. After this it is moistened and 
staked and softened ; and the staking and drying are continued 
until the leather is soft and dry. Then it is coated on both 
sides with a light coat of paste made with tallow, starch- flour,, 
soap and water boiled together ; then it is dried out again and 
finished in the usual way. As is the case when alum and salt 
are used before the chrome process is applied, the object of 
using them is to pickle the hides so that they will not draw or 
pucker when put into the tan liquor, and to preserve them so 
that they can be kept some time before they are chrome 
tanned, and also to enable the tanner to split them before tan- 
ning them. 

An interesting feature of this process is in the fact that the 
salt and alum treatment permits the leather to be stufTed at a 
high temperature, thus insuring more thorough penetration of 
the stufifing grease, and the leather is made very elastic and 
durable and peculiarly suitable for lace leather. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 75 

Sulphate of alumina may be used in place of alum if pre- 
ferred. 

Lace leather made by a chrome process in this way does not 
harden, but remains strong, soft and pliable until it is worn out. 
The laces do not burn when they go over the pulleys. The 
splits taken from the hides can be tanned into glove leather, or 
they can be tanned same as the grains and sold for cheap lace 
leather. If colored leather is wanted, it can be dyed before it 
is fat-liquored. 

Fat-liquoring is done in a warm drum ; and all the in- 
gredients should be thoroughly assimilated and taken up by 
the leather before it is dried out. 

Another Way to Tan the Leather. 
Take the hides after they have been drenched and washed 
and put them into the drum with three pounds of sulphate of 
alumina and eight pounds of salt dissolved in ten gallons of 
water for every hundred pounds of hides. Run the drum an 
hour or longer, take the hides out, drain and press them for 
splitting. After the hides are split, weigh the grains and tan 
them in the following manner: For every hundred pounds of 
them, dissolve eight pounds of salt in fifteen gallons of water; 
run the grains in this solution one-half hour. Prepare the 
chrome liquor by dissolving twelve pounds of concentrated 
chrome material in ten gallons of hot water. Divide the solu- 
tion into three portions. Add the first portion to the contents 
of the drum, run the hides in it for half an hour; then pour in 
the second portion and drum the hides half an hour; then add 
the rest of the liquor and run the drum five hours, at the end 
of which time the leather should be tanned. Add enough 
water to the contents of the drum to fully cover the leather and 
leave it in the same over night. After draining one day, the 
leather should be washed first in borax water and then in clear 
water, pressed and fat-liquored; or colored and fat-liquored if 
colored leather is wanted. From this point until the leather 
is done, the grains tanned as above directed are treated the 
same as the acid-pickled hides. 



76 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Fat-liquor for Lace Leather. — For each hundred pounds of 

leather washed and pressed use : 

Moellon Degras 3 pounds. 

Tallow 5 pounds. 

Neatsfoot or Cod Oil 2 pounds. 

Soda Ash 12 ounces. 

Boil these ingredients in six gallons of water for forty 

minutes, more or less ; then run in cold water until there are 

twelve gallons of fat- liquor. Before using, stir into it six liquid 

ounces of strong ammonia. Use at 150 degrees Fahr. in a 

clean drum. Put the leather into the drum with fifteen gallons 

of boiling hot water and drum the leather in it ten minutes. 

This hot water warms the leather so that the grease will go in 

readily. Drain the water out of the drum, put on the door, 

start the drum and pour the fat liquor through the hollow axle. 

At the expiration of forty minutes, take the leather out of the 

drum and place it over horses for twenty-four hours ; then 

strike it out and oil the grain with neatsfoot or lard oil. 

Another good formula for fat-liquor is: 

Soap I pound. 

Neatsfoot Oil 3 pounds. 

Tallow 3 pounds. 

Carbonate of Potash 4 ounces. 

These articles should be made into twelve gallons of fat- 
liquor for one hundred pounds of skins and used in the same 
manner as the preceding fat-liquor. 

Oiling and Finishing. — Set the leather out hard and apply 
a liberal coat of warm neatsfoot oil to the grain ; then tack the 
leather on tackmg frames to dry. Always stretch the leather 
lengthwise as the laces are cut that way. As soon as the 
leather is perfectl)^ dry, take it from the frames, moisten it and 
stake it to soften it. Without any further treatment, the 
leather is now ready to be cut into laces and used ; but if a 
greasy grain is wanted, apply a paste to the leather after it has 
been staked. The paste is made of tallow, neatsfoot oil and 
flour. Take four parts of tallow and one part of neatsfoot oil, 
warm to 130 degrees Fahr. and mix thoroughly. Next take 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 77 

two pounds of flour and stir it slowly into the oil and tallow and 
allow the mixture to get cold. Apply a liberal coat to the 
grain of the leather, rubbing it in with a stifT brush. Finally 
rub the grain hard with a glass slicker to make it smooth and 
glossy, dry the leather and it is finished. This greasy finish is 
not necessary, as excellent leather is made without it, but some 
people prefer lace leather with a greasy grain, and for such the 
finishing paste may be used. The splits taken from the tanned 
hides can be finished with the paste in the manner described^ 
and will give good service as they are very tough and strong. 

Alum-Tanned Lace Leather. 

The common wooden pail, capacity ten quarts, is used to 
measure the tanning ingredients. In a clean barrel place one 
pail of lump alum and two pails of salt. Dissolve the ingredi- 
ents by the aid of steam and boil the solution three minutes,, 
then pour it into the tan vat and plunge well. Dissolve one- 
fourth of a pail of carbonate of soda with hot water and pour 
it slowly into the vat, plunging the liquor briskly during the 
time it is being poured in. Effervescence takes place when the 
soda solution is mixed with the alum liquor and when it ceases 
the liquor, to be in right condition for use, should have a sweet- 
ish taste. If the liquor tastes sour add dissolved carbonate of 
soda and salt in the proportions stated until it tastes sweetish 
or neutral. 

The liquor should be cold when the hides are placed in it. 
The liquor having been prepared, handle the pack from the 
fresh water and place it immediately in the liquor. Handle 
the hides fifteen minutes after they have been placed in the 
liquor, again at the expiration of half an hour and again at the 
end of the next half hour, then at intervals of two hours until 
the close of day. Frequent handling the first day the pack is 
in lays the foundation for an even tan and for a uniform grain, 
two important considerations. 

The second day the pack is in the liquor, at uniform inter- 
vals of time, handle it four times; the third day handle it three 



yS PRACTICAL TANNING. 

times, and the fourth day handle it twice ; and near quitting 
time handle it up to drain over night, when it is ready for the 
finishing processes. 

The pack being tanned and having drained over night, hang 
the sides up to sammy where there is not much current of 
air so that the more exposed parts will not dry before the less 
exposed parts are sammied enough. They must not be allowed 
to dry out completely in spots, and should this happen as it 
sometimes does, the sides with the dry spots should be taken 
down and the spots made wet; for in this tan, the longer the 
spots remain dry the harder it is to bring them back to the 
state of the surrounding parts. It is impossible to sammy them 
so evenly that no spots require to be dampened more or less. 

Dry spots should have time to absorb sufficient moisture to 
become swollen before any grease is applied. Such being the 
case, dampen the sides where needed, fold and pack them 
closely in a box, and let them remain twenty-four hours, when 
they are ready to be stufTed. 

After hanging up to sammy, the sides are in right condition 
to take town, dampen where needed, folded and placed in a box 
when they have dried out one-third. 

The dubbing used to stuff the leather is made of pure tallow 
and neatsfoot oil in the following proportions, according to the 
time of the year: In summer time ten pounds of tallow and one 
pound of neatsfoot oil, and in winter time ten pounds of tallow 
and three pounds of neatsfoot oil. Of course the leather may 
be StufTed with tallow only, but the addition of some neatsfoot oil 
gives it a softer and mellower feel. Half a pound of resin to 
ten pounds of dubbing contributes to the preservation of the 
dubbing from oxidation. The dubbing is applied to the sides 
in a fluid state and at a temperature but little higher than that 
of the fusibility of the tallow. 

Place the number of sides the stuffing-wheel will carry on a 
table, spread out one upon another. With a swab or suitable 
brush give each side a light coat of the fluid dubbing on both 
flesh and grain. Place the batch in the cold stuffing-wheel and 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 79 

set the wheel in motion, and regulate the speed of the wheel so 
that the sides are carried nearly to the top of the wheel and 
then fall to the bottom, to be carried up again to fall. They 
should neither roll nor swing over, for when they do it is time 
and power wasted. It requires contact of the sides with the 
pins of the wheel to work the grease into the leather. 

When the sides have absorbed the grease take them out of 
the wheel, hang them up until they get partially dried. Then 
with a stone having well-rounded corners go over the sides 
on the flesh side on a table and straighten them out, when they 
are ready for shaving. Shave them lightly and with an eye to 
levelness. Then coat both flesh and grain with melted dubbing. 
Place them again in the stuffing-wheel arid let it run until they 
have absorbed all the grease. Hang the leather up and when 
it is nearly dry snuff it over with the currying knife on the 
flesh side, set the flesh out, stone, slick and glass the grain 
oil lightly on grain, hang up to dry out completely, then take 
down, glass on the flesh and brush on the grain, when the leather 
is ready for market. 

The following is an old method of making lace leather: For 
every hundred pounds of hides ready to be tanned a tanning 
mixture is made of fifty gallons of water, ten pounds of alum, two 
and a-half pounds sal soda, three pounds of common salt and from 
two to three pounds of bran. These ingredients are made into 
a liquor, and the hides are treated with the same in a drum or 
vat, after which they are dried out. They are then split and a 
mixture of lard oil and tallow applied, after which they are 
again dried. The hides are then moistened and shaved and the 
entire grain is removed to prevent cracking and breaking. 
Finally rub into the hides a mixture of one and a-half pounds 
of lard oil, one-half pound of tallow, and a few ounces of flour 
for every ten pounds of hide ; let them dry, then moisten, stake 
and stretch them, and the hides are ready for use. 

Lace leather that is soft and strong is also made by begin- 
ning the tanning in an old weak bark, oak or gambier liquor, 
the hides being left in it only long enough to become uniformly 



80 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

colored. The toughness of the leather is increased by supple- 
menting a gambier tanning with alum and salt, coloring the 
hides with gambier and then giving them the alum and salt. 
Upon coming from the tanning liquor, the leather is hung up 
and dried. It may also be further tanned with oil and grease. 
Different processes of greasing are used. A good mixture 
consists of oil, flour, grease and salt. These are drummed into 
the hides in a drum, the leather then hung up and dried. 
Degras combined with oil and fat imparts great softness to the 
stock. After the leather becomes dry, the grain may be buffed. 
It may also be removed before the hides are tanned. Setting- 
out and working the leather complete the process. 

Another tanning composition for lace and whip leather con- 
sists of twenty-five gallons of warm water, two pounds of alum, 
ten pounds of salt, one pound of sulphuric acid, two pounds of 
bran and two ounces of dissolved sulphur or the same quantity 
of gambier. The hides are left in this liquor one hour, then 
one ounce of sulphuric acid, four pounds of salt and two ounces 
of alum are dissolved and added to the liquor. In this com- 
bined liquor the hides are tanned, then hung up and dried. 
For lace leather the hides are given a mixture of one pound of 
fish oil, one pound of tallow, four ounces of linseed oil and two 
ounces of soda soap dissolved in a gallon of hot water. The 
hides are then dried again and worked soft. 

Alum-tanned hides, dried and moistened, can be stuffed with 
tallow, degras and cod oil. The weight of a lot of hides is ob- 
tained by weighing them dry and deducting one-third from the 
weight of the sammied hides. For one hundred pounds of dry 
leather use ten pounds of tallow, ten pounds of degras and ten 
pounds of cod oil, melted together and put into the wheel at 
90 degrees Fahr. Considerable drumming is necessary to get 
the grease into the hides. The hides are then dried and soft- 
ened. They are next glassed out, smoothly shaved on the 
flesh and the grain removed by bufifing to prevent the laces 
from cracking. The leather is then rubbed with a mixture of 
lard, oil, tallow and flour, and then finished by being laid out 
flat upon a table and smoothed out with a glass slicker. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 8 1 

To obtain the yellow color sometimes desired pulverized 
sulphur may be added to the tanning liquor; and for a darker 
shade gambier may be used. 

Rawhide lace leather is made by sweating the hides until the 
hair is removed, then drying them and working them by 
stretching and beating until they are thoroughly softened and 
in condition to be used. 

Raw Hide Lace Leather. — This variety is tanned with alum 
and salt and great strength and pliability are obtained. The 
hides are soaked and softened in the usual manner, then placed 
in the lime. In this they are left only long enough to remove 
the hair, as longer liming makes the leather too loose. In 
place of lime, sulphide of sodium may be used to remove the 
hair and in this case the hides are also limed lightly. After 
the hair is removed, the hides are cleaned with lactic acid and 
are then ready to be tanned. 

A tanning liquor is made up of fifteen pounds of alum and 
thirty pounds of salt in sufhcient water to cover fifty sides. 
The sides are left in this liquor twenty- four hours. Then the 
liquor is run off and the sides are given twenty-five pounds of 
alum and fifty pounds of salt and handled twice each day. The 
sides should remain in the liquor two days, then be hung up to 
dry. When dry, they are dampened down for two or three days 
and then worked out on the staker. To grease the sides fifty 
pounds of white tallow and two quarts of pine tar are mixed 
and applied hot to both sides of the leather. The sides are 
then put into the drum, heated with steam to 85 degrees Fahr., 
and run one hour and fifteen minutes, more or less. The leather 
is then staked on the flesh side, restuffed same as before and 
then set out lengthwise of the flesh and grain, and then hung 
up to dry by neck and tail. The tanning can also be done in 
a drum. 

A process that is a little different from the preceding one 

is carried out as follows : After they are tanned with alum 

and salt, the sides are hung up to dry. They are not allowed 

to dry completely, but are staked while a little damp and then 

6 



82 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

are dried completely. The dry leather is then stuffed. In a 
warm room the leather is dried and made warm and then given 
a coat of hot tallow. The tallow should penetrate through 
and through until the hides will absorb no more. The leather 
can then be run in a dry drum; stretched, the superfluous 
grease rubbed off" when it is ready for use. 

Other Methods of Making Lace Leather. 

Some tanners make lace leather by using gambler, alum and 
salt. The bated and washed hides are suspended in gambler 
liquor for a few days and then are put into a solution of salt 
and alum. This process produces a thick grain that presents 
an excellent surface to the buffs. When taken from the salt 
and alum solution, the hides are dried, then wet down and left 
to sammy. As soon as they are soft and moist they are stuff"ed 
with a mixture of hard grease, degras and cod oil. The leather 
is then shaved, buff"ed, and finally set out first by machine and 
then by hand. 

Tawed lace leather is made by drumming the sides in a 
solution of sulphate of alumina, sulphate of potash, sulphate of 
soda and neatsfoot oil. The solution is heated to 95 degrees 
Fahr., and the sides are drummed in it for about an hour, after 
which they are removed from the drum and left to drain for 
three or four hours. The tanning is then repeated. After the 
second milling in the tanning solution the sides are hung up to 
dry. When dry, they are dampened, staked, shaved, slicked, 
stuffed with tallow and neatsfoot oil, and then finally dried. 

Tawing may also be done by means of a solution of one- 
half pound of salt, one-half pound of soda and two pounds of 
alum in ten gallons of water, to which one-half pound of bran 
is added. This quantity is calculated for twenty pounds of 
raw hide. In this solution the hides are drummed, then they 
are dried and dampened. Stuffing with a mixture of three 
parts oil and one part tallow is the next process ; it is done in 
the usual way. 

A water bath to which bran has been added is given next. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 83 

and immediately after the leather is taken from the bath it is 
worked out well on the flesh side and then given the second 
stuffing. For the second stuffing equal parts of oil and tallow 
and a little flour are used. By the latter softness and pliability 
are obtained. 

Picker Leather. 

Picker leather is used very extensively in cotton, woolen and 
silk mills. Great care must be taken in the manufacture of 
this leather. It must be soft and mellow so that it can be tied 
into knots, etc. ; and above all, it should be tough in every 
way so that it will not tear or rip out where loops are cut into 
it to fasten on to the shuttle. The hides must be of good steer 
selection, say from fifty to sixty pounds, then soaked in the 
usual way, with plenty of cold, fresh water. 

Liming. — When thoroughly soaked the hides are taken to 
the limes and limed as follows : To every fifty sides use one 
bushel of lime; slack and reduce the lime to liquid form with 
water and run the same into the lime vats with sufficient water 
to cover the stock and reel the sides from vat to vat. This 
reeling must be repeated at least five times during the first ten 
hours the sides are subjected to the liming process. When 
sufficiently limed, that is to say, when the short hair can be 
worked out, the sides are reeled into warm water, 100 degrees 
Fahr. This heat must be maintained, and the stock should 
again be reeled at the expiration of twenty-four hours ; after 
remaining in this warm bath forty-eight hours, the hides are 
ready for the beam. The stock being now ready for unhair- 
ing, the hides can be unhaired by any of the well-known 
machines, or this work can be done on a beam by hand. 
Usually hides unhaired by machine must be gone over again 
on the beam when worked out of bate. Tanners differ in re- 
gard to this last working. The sides being unhaired are now 
ready for fleshing. When the hides have been unhaired and 
fleshed they should be bated down until they are soft and silky. 
Liming with lime and red arsenic as for lace leather is a good 
way to lime the hides. 



84 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Bating. — Lactic acid either in its commercial form or as 
used for chrome leather in conjunction with sour glucose is a 
satisfactory bate for this class of leather. All the lime should 
be removed, and the hides should be soft, low and clean before 
they are put into the tan liquor. 

Tanning. — Gambier is preferable as a tanning agent, as it is 
a quick and soft tannage. The leather has that mellow feeling 
that all good picker leather must have. Oak tannage also pro- 
duces soft, tough leather. The oak process is as follows: The 
coloring must be done in vats, with a reel attached, or rather 
constructed between the two vats, and the sides may be fast- 
ened together with S hooks ; in fact they can be tanned entirely 
in reel vats if the proper attention is given to them. They 
must be reeled regularly, and the liquor must be gradually 
strengthened until the stock is thoroughly tanned. 

Lactic acid used in the first stages of coloring proves ad- 
vantageous. By proper use of lactic acid quick results may be 
obtained and plump yet mellow leather. This method is known 
as the oak- bark tannage, and it is well to add that when the 
hides are put into the liquor fresh from the beamhouse the 
liquor should not be over 2 degrees barkometer, and lactic acid 
is best employed for plumping after the third day the stock is 
in the liquor. 

Gambier-picker leather is treated in the same manner as oak- 
picker leather in the first stages of tanning or until the grain 
and flesh are nicely struck through with tannin. They are 
then ready for a special treatment, which forms the yellow 
streak in the center of the hide. 

The gambier liquor is made from gambier, alum and salt, 
about four per cent, alum and one per cent, salt and sufifiicient 
gambier to make the liquor show a bright orange color. This 
bath must be heated to 90 degrees Fahr. At the end of one 
hour draw the sides out and return them to the liquor and in 
two hours repeat again, and again in three hours. The follow- 
ing day raise and put back again. Now let the stock remain 
for twenty-four hours, then hang it up and sammy quickly. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 85 

Stuffing. — Put the sides into a stuffing wheel with all the 
tallow they will take, say from five to six pounds, until all sign 
of the tallow has gone into the stock. . The sides should now 
be set on machine, then reset by hand and given a good coat 
of dubbin made of tallow and sperm oil. About sixty per cent, 
sperm oil is used to forty per cent, tallow. The tallow must 
be allowed to stand until cool enough so that the hand can be 
borne in it without pain or until a slight skim arises on the sur- 
face of the tallow. The sperm oil can now be added, the 
tallow being constantly stirred while the oil is poured in slowly. 
This will make a fine, close dubbin and both oil and tallow will 
penetrate. Should the oil be added when the tallow is hot, it 
will result in what curriers call " fish eggs," and only the oil 
will penetrate the stock, which is very undesirable. 

Tanning and Finishing Splits. 

The splits that are taken from untanned hides, that is, from 
hides that are split out of the lime or out of acid pickle or out 
of a pickle of sulphate of alumina and salt can be tanned with 
extract of hemlock, quebracho, gambier, etc., and finished into 
innersoling and other leather; they may also be tanned in a 
chrome process and made into glove leather. Splits taken 
from limed hides are drenched with lactic acid or some other 
suitable material, then tacked on sticks and suspended in the 
tan liquor and tanned wholly by suspension. Splits taken 
from hides full of acid and salt should be first milled in a solu- 
tion of ten pounds of salt and four gallons of water for one 
hundred pounds of splits, for twenty minutes. This puts all 
parts of the splits into condition to take the tan liquor. The 
first liquor into which the splits are placed is a plumping liquor 
made of hemlock extract and should contain at least ten per 
cent, of lactic acid to swell the fibers of the splits so that they 
can take up the tannin. The splits should then be put into a 
regular bark yard and worked through stronger liquors, being 
handled every other day. From two to three weeks are re- 
quired to tan the splits, depending upon their thickness. 



85 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Splits taken from hides pickled with sulphate of alumina and 
salt may be put into weak liquor or drummed therein and then 
tanned in gradually increasing strengths of hemlock liquor 
until they are full)' tanned. No salt is needed in the liquors, 
and the alumina or alum becomes washed out before the tan- 
ning is finished. 

The best way to tan splits is by suspending them in the 
liquor. Where this cannot be done because of lack of vats, a 
paddle vat may be used ; this is better than a drum. In the 
paddle vat there is no violent pounding, and the splits therefore 
finish up finer than when a drum is used. Heavy splits may 
be put into a ten-degree barkometer quermos extract in a 
paddle vat until struck through. They should then be tanned 
in strong hemlock bark or hemlock extract liquor until thor- 
oughly filled and tanned. For light, flexible splits some softer 
tannage may be used, such as quermos extract, the first liquor 
being io degrees barkometer, and the splits then passed into 
stronger liquor or the weak liquor may be strengthened. This 
method of tanning makes soft splits that require very little oil 
or fat-liquor. 

Before splits full of alum or sulphate of alumina and salt are 
put into extract or bark liquors, they should be preferably 
drummed in a weak gambler or palmetto liquor until they are 
softened. They should then be tanned in strong liquors, the 
alum and salt disappearing before the splits are ready to be 
finished. The splits should never be washed in water before 
they are tanned or they will be flat and flabby when finished. 

Splits are improved by being drummed in a gambler liquor 
after they are tanned. This has no effect as a tannage, but 
gives a softer texture to the leather. Scouring and cleaning 
the leather of all dirt and foreign material is also beneficial, or 
the splits can be taken after they are fully tanned and drained 
and then rinsed in a vat of water, which will remove any sedi- 
ment on them. They should never be put into a drum and 
washed, for this causes them to lose their plumpness and to fall 
away and become thin. After they are rinsed off they are 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 8/ 

hung on poles to dry. The dry spHts are dampened and 
stuffed. 

Rough splits for innersoling are retanned with a mixture of 
two-thirds quebracho extract and one-third hemlock extract, 
then rinsed and retanned with sumac in a vat. They are then 
partly dried and stuffed. A good stuffing mixture is made of 
one part tallow, two parts soap, six parts Irish moss and thirty 
parts water. After the splits have been stuffed they are set out 
on a table and a mixture of six parts Irish moss, one part 
starch and two parts soap is rubbed in on both flesh and grain 
sides with a stiff brush. They are then set out with a slicker 
and hung up flat to dry. A jacking completes the work. 
Tanners who want to increase the weight of their splits add a 
little grape sugar to the stuffing mixture. 

Splits taken from hides tanned with hemlock, quebracho and 
chestnut extract in combination process can be worked into 
Goodyear by being trimmed after they are split and retanned 
in a paddle-wheel with a combination liquor composed of que- 
bracho and chestnut extract. They should be run in a mill 
with a weak liquor for one-half hour to break up the crust 
caused by the belt-knife. They are then put into a i6-degree 
liquor and left in the same forty-eight hours, then placed in 
piles forty-eight hours, and then returned to the liquor for forty- 
eight hours, the paddle being run about two hours in the morn- 
ing and two hours in the afternoon. When they are well filled 
they are left in piles a few hours, then put into a drum with the 
following mixture : For fifty Goodyears use four pounds of 
flour, eight pounds of epsom salts, one gallon of cod oil, one 
gallon of moellon degras and ten pounds of talc, all mixed to- 
gether into a smooth paste; then add water at 85 degrees Fahr. 
to make twenty- five gallons. Run the splits in this solution 
one-half hour and put them in piles over night. In the morn- 
ing set them out very thoroughly, apply a paste made of Irish 
moss and flour, and hang them up to dry. When dry give a coat 
of Irish moss and talc on both sides and roll hard ; then dry. 

Softenmg and Stuffing Heavy Splits. — The dry splits require 



88 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

very careful dampening and softening. A good way to do this 
is to wet one-half of them in water. Then place a dry split on 
the floor, then a wet split on top of it, then another dry one 
and then another wet one until all are piled down. Let them 
lay two, three or four days to become uniformly soft and damp, 
keeping them well covered during that time. Proper dampen- 
ing is the secret of soft, well-filled splits. The spHts can also 
be dampened by being sprinkled with water or sprayed with a 
hose-spray and left in covered piles until they are damp and 
soft. Two hundred pounds of dry splits should not weigh 
more than two hundred and sixty pounds when dampened. 

The amount of grease and the kind of grease to be used 
must be decided by the operator and depends upon the tan- 
nage. Some tannages will take more stuf^ng than others. 
Gambler and other soft tannages do not require as much grease 
as hemlock and combination tannages. The harder the grease 
the more can be put in. Sometimes one hundred pounds of 
dry splits will carry over one hundred pounds of grease, one 
hundred and ten pounds being the maximum. 

The grease should be heated to 140 degrees Fahr., and the 
drum should be heated with live steam to the same temperature 
before the splits are put in. Some degras may be used and a 
httle sod oil, say ten per cent, of the latter, but not more and 
this only when the grease is very good and hard, or when 
stearine is used in making the stuffing. The splits should be 
carefully weighed, likewise the grease, the splits then carefully 
and uniformly dampened, and the right temperature main- 
tained during the process. A good stuffing mixture for gambier- 
tanned splits is made as follows: Six gallons of brown grease, 
four gallons of common degras and two gallons of stearine. If 
the brown grease is good use less stearine. Use from one to 
one and a half gallons of sod oil to every twelve gallons of the 
mixture described. If the splits are very hard use a half gallon 
more of sod oil to each twelve gallons of stuffing. The amount 
of grease to be used depends upon the tannage. After the 
splits have been stufted they are finished by being whitened. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SIDE LEATHERS. 89 

blackened with soap and lampblack blacking, dried, trimmed, 
given a paste of flour, dried, rolled or glazed and covered with 
a size made of gum tragacanth, dried again, sorted and graded. 

Stuffing for Wax Splits. — To make one hundred pounds of 
stuffing grease, take forty-five pounds of tallow, ten pounds of 
degras, twenty-five pounds of stearine, twenty pounds of par- 
affin wax. Dissolve the stearine and wax, add the tallow and 
then the degras. Use from thirty-five to forty pounds of the 
stuffing to one hundred pounds of dampened splits. Heat the 
wheel to 135 degrees Fahr. and the grease to the same tem- 
perature. Let the wheel run for twenty minutes with the door 
closed and for ten minutes with the door open. Hang the splits 
until they are well cooled ofT and good and stifT; then set them 
out tightly on the back and then on the face side, and hang them 
up to dry. 

Another receipt for stuffing is: In a suitable kettle cook 
hard glucose to 140 degrees Fahr. In another kettle place 
one-half degras, one-half brown grease and one-third best 
stearine, and cook thoroughly. Use about twelve pounds of 
glucose with forty pounds of combination grease, mixing just 
before using. The glucose will give a good color and weight, 
but it must be used carefully and with judgment. If the splits 
are too wet or too dry or of hard tannage no stearine is neces- 
sary. Under such conditions good brown grease and degras 
and glucose will be enough. Dampening for stuffing should 
be done in such manner that three hundred pounds of splits 
take an additional weight of thirty-five pounds. 

Finish for the Back. — When splits are dry, after stuffing and 
setting out, pack them down in a pile for a few days; then 
Avhiten them lightly on the back and to a fine face on the side 
to be finished. Now trim the edges and place the stock on a 
table flesh side up for the back finish. Make a paste for the 
back finish by mixing together two pounds each of red lead 
and yellow ochre and pour in slowly one gallon of cold water, 
stir while pouring. Dissolve one pound of corn starch in one 
gallon of cold water. Boil the lead and ochre and pour in the 



90 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Starch; stir well and boil until cooked. Then let the finish 
cool and it is ready for use. Spread an even coat on the flesh 
with a soft brush. Hang the stock up to dry and then glass 
with a jack. If the paste is too thick add more water, and if it 
is not the desired color change the quantities of lead and ochre 
to suit. 

Soap Black. — To make a soap black, dissolve twelve pounds of 
common soap in half a common oil barrel full of water, with two 
pounds of common potash. Add from twelve to fifteen pounds 
of lampblack, according to quality. Boil slowly after the black 
has been mixed in. Then add two pails of strong logwood 
liquor and one pound of indigo or Prussian blue and boil and 
stir thoroughly ; then fill the barrel with cold water and add 
one pint of muriate of iron. Spread this black with one brush 
and rub it in with another brush. Sweep any smut off with a 
table duster. If the glassing is to be done by hand, glass right 
after blacking. If the stock is glassed with a jack, hang the 
splits up after blacking before glassing. When the black dries 
they are ready to be jack-glassed. 

Flour Paste. — For pasting make a stiiT flour paste by mixing 
four quarts of flour in two gallons of cold water. Put in a little 
water at a time and stir well to keep lumps from forming. 
When thoroughly mixed, boil for ten minutes with live steam, 
then add one-half pound of tallow and one-half pound of com- 
mon soap. Boil until thoroughly cooked. Let the paste cool 
and spread on a fairly heavy coat evenly with a fine sponge. 
Hang up the splits, and after the paste is dry, glass either with 
jack or by hand. If the splits will stand it they can be oiled 
over the most solid parts on the black side. Good judgment 
must be used in oiling so as not to have the stock show the oil 
after it is finished, as heavy mill-stufifed leather will not stand 
much oil in finishing. 

For finishing give an even coat of gum tragacanth dissolved 
to a thin substance. When dry the splits are ready to be sorted. 



the manufacture of side leathers. 91 

Finishing Splits into Goodyears, Chair Splits, etc. 

The splits are taken from the splitting machine and trimmed, 
then put into a mill with a weak tanning liquor of 6 to 8 degrees, 
and milled for one hour. This milling will break up the crust 
made by the belt knife and open up the split so that it will 
take the re-tan liquor. After they are milled, they can be re- 
tanned in a mill or put back into the tan yard for three weeks 
in a strong liquor. The splits should be pulled out of the 
liquor every other day and allowed to drain about four to six 
hours, the liquor strengthened up and the splits put back one 
at a time. If the tanning is done in a mill it will take about 
six days to make a good split. The splits should be milled in 
a strong liquor about two hours each day and then left in piles 
the remainder of the day. This operation is repeated daily for 
six days when the splits will be full-tanned. 

After the splits are tanned they are sorted and the heavy 
splits can be worked into flexibles or Goodyears, while the 
light ones can be worked into chair seats. 

If flexibles are to be made they are put into the mill (after 
lying 48 hours after the last tanning) and given a milling in a 
strong solution of epsom salt. This will give them a light 
color without removing any of the tan. The epsom salt solu- 
tion is made by dissolving seventy-five pounds of epsom salts 
in fifty gallons of water. Use about twelve gallons of the solu- 
tion to every eight splits. Mill them in it thirty minutes, then 
pile them down over night. The next day set out and hang^ 
up to dry. When the splits are dry dip them in warm water 
and lay in piles 24 hours, then give them a coat of Irish moss 
and soap and roll hard and hang up to dry. When dry, trim 
and measure. If Goodyear splits are to be made the splits are 
to be trimmed so as to have the proper bend for Goodyears. 
The trimmings are finished in the same manner as the flexibles 
and sold for cheap insoles, then the bend is leveled up on the 
splitting machine. Bends for Goodyears must be of uniform 
substance. After they are leveled they are fat-liquored with 
soap and cod oil, using one-half pound of soap and three 



92 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

pounds of oil to each one hundred pounds of leather. Run in 
the fat-liquor and pile down over night. Now make up a clear- 
ing liquor of sixteen gallons of water and two pounds of lactic 
acid. Run the bends in this ten minutes and take out and 
hang up to dry, taking pains to have them dry flat. 

When they are dry make up a paste of three pounds of 
frozen glue, one pound of white soap, one pound of Irish moss 
and one quart of finishing oil. Soak the glue over night in 
three gallons of water. In the morning add the soap and moss 
and oil and boil for an hour, then add enough water to make 
ten gallons and strain. When cold, give the splits a good 
heavy coat and hang them up until it is struck in. Then roll 
hard and treat the other side the same way. When they are 
dry they are finished. 

If the light splits are to be put into chair splits they are 
leveled on the machine, then put in a mill and given a milling 
in a sumac liquor, using one pail of sumac in twelve gallons of 
water for each dozen splits. Mill the splits for one hour, then 
pile them down 24 hours and set out on both sides and hang 
up to dry. Do not hang over sticks. Trim ofT all the shanks 
and thin edges. When they are dry, make up a filUng paste 
of one- half pound of corn starch, one-half pound of dextrine, 
one pound of casein that has been soaked over night in three 
gallons of water, and boil this mixture slowly for an hour. 
While it is boiling add one-half pound of ivory soap cut up in 
fine shavings. This will make ten gallons of paste. Aniline 
dye of any color desired can be added to the paste and the 
splits made into any color. The splits should be given a good 
coat of this paste. It should be put on smooth and when 
about half dry, the splits should be rolled hard and dried, and 
they are then in condition to be embossed. 

After embossing, the splits are given a coat of waterproof 
finish made by cutting up shellac or casein and adding aniline 
that is made to dissolve in spirits to the finish ; by using aniline 
the same color as the splits it will give the finished split a much 
richer color. These splits are often worked into cheap suit 
-cases and bags. 



SECTION TWO. 

The Manufacture of Sheepskin Leather. 

The first process to which sheep peUs are subjected by the 
wool-puller and tanner is soaking. By means of this process^ 
which consists of immersing the pelts in water, the skins are 
softened and adhering dirt and salt are dissolved and removed 
from them. 

Green salted skins require only a few hours soaking, while 
heavily salted skins and those received in dry condition require 
longer soaking and more thorough softening. In warm weather 
green salted skins soak sufificiently in ten hours, and in cold 
weather they may be soaked from ten to twenty hours without 
injury. No exact rule needs to be followed. When the skins 
are soft and the salt dissolved, the pelts have been soaked 
enough. Clean fresh water should be used. As soon as the 
pelts are sufificiently soaked, they should be removed from the 
water and thrown over horses and allowed to drain for several 
hours, or they may be passed through an extractor by means 
of which the surplus water is taken out of them. It is a matter 
of importance that the salty and dirty water be gotten rid of 
before any depilatory is applied to the skins as an imperfect 
and cloudy grain results when this is not done. Clean water 
should be used, as foul water starts the wool and injures the 
grain. Ten pounds of borax dissolved and added to the water 
before the skins are put in helps to soften the skins and remove 
the dirt. Dry skins should be soaked in such a soak until they 
are quite pliable, then run in a drum or otherwise broken and 
then soaked a few hours longer, drained and depilated. 

Methods of Removing the Wool. 
To accomplish the removal of the wool, sulphide of sodium 

(93) 



94 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

and lime are generally used. Three formulas are given as 
follows : 

1. Put twenty-five pounds of lime into a tub and add just 
enough hot water to cover it. In another tub or barrel dis- 
solve twenty-five pounds of sulphide of sodium in ten gallons 
of hot water. Stir the lime until it is entirely slaked and the 
sulphide of sodium until it is dissolved, then mix the lime and 
sulphide solutions together and apply the mixture cold to the 
flesh side of the skins, folding each skin flesh side in. Lay the 
skins in a cool, moist place for twenty-four hours when the wool 
can easily be removed. The painting of the skins should 
always be done in a moist room, and the edges of the skins 
must be kept from drying or the wool will pull hard and lime 
blasts will show on the skins later. During the winter the 
skins must be kept from freezing. 

The pelts are spread upon a table and the mixture of lime 
and sulphide of sodium applied to the flesh side. Only enough 
liquor should be used to saturate the skins and none allowed 
to run ofT onto the wool. The workman must wear rubber 
gloves to prevent his hands from getting sore. 

After the skins have been painted, fold them lengthwise, 
wool out, and place them in numerous piles. When the 
weather is cold six or seven skins may be put together in a 
pile, but in warm weather not more than three or four should 
be so placed, and if they are to lie twenty-four hours or longer 
they should be singled out and each pelt lie by itself. The 
wool becomes loosened in a few hours, but should not be re- 
moved until the next day when it will come off easily and 
cleanly. Very young lamb skins should have the wool re- 
moved as soon as it starts, and then be put into clean cold water, 
containing some sulphide of sodium in which they may be kept 
until they are free from dirt and fine hairs. 

2. A good depilatory liquor is made by dissolving sulphide 
of sodium in water until the solution stands at eighteenOto 
twenty degrees Baume test, and adding eighteen gallons of 
slaked lime. Apply this to the skins when it is cold. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 95 

3. Place a bushel of lime in the center of a tub and add to it 
one and a-half pounds of sulphide of sodium, mixing the two 
well together. Pour hot water upon the lime and sulphide and 
stir until both are dissolved. Add water until the mixture has 
the consistency of paste and let it cool before using it. The 
table upon which the pelts are painted should be kept clean 
and free from the sulphide paste or it will damage the wool 
and cause loss. 

Liming after Removal of the Wool. 

To start the liming of the skins slake two gallons of lime with 
six gallons of water. This is enough for one hundred average 
size skins. Pour the lime into water in the vat, put the skins 
in and leave them in one day, then haul them out and add one 
gallon of lime slaked with five gallons of water and put the 
skins in for another day, then haul them out and put in a little 
more lime and leave the skins in for a day or two longer. 

After the wool has been removed from the skins it is good 
practice to wash them in a solution of bicarbonate of soda. Use 
one pound to the dozen skins in water at 80 degrees Fahr. and 
wash the skins in this solution in a drum for an hour, then wash 
them in clear water for another hour and the skins will be 
found free from sulphide and in good condition to be limed. 
Next give the skins weak lime for a few days, wash them and 
then drench them in a lactic acid drench. 

The Sulphide of Sodium Process. 

What is known as the sulphide process is carried out in the 
following manner: Prepare a solution of sulphide of sodium 
by dissolving one and one-fourth pounds in three or four gal- 
lons of hot water for each dozen skins to be treated. When 
the solution is cold it is ready for use. Take the skins as they 
come from the puller, put them into a revolving drum and add 
the sulphide Hquor. Close the drum and run it for two hours, 
then let it remain stationary for ten hours or until the next 
morning. Then take the skins out of the sulphide liquor, wash 



96 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

and drench them the same as Hmed skins. If the skins are to 
be made into soft leather, as for gloves and linings, they should 
be washed in water containing one pound of bicarbonate of 
soda for each dozen skins and then in clear water to remove 
the sulphide, then limed a few days, washed again, drenched 
and pickled. If firm leather is wanted the liming can be omit- 
ted, the skins being treated with sulphide of sodium as de- 
scribed, then washed in warm water containing one pound of 
bicarbonate of soda for each dozen skins. Wash the skins in 
this liquor one hour and then drench them with lactic acid or 
sour bran. Trimming and fleshing are done after the skins 
have been taken out of the sulphide liquor and washed in warm 
water. This method of handling the skins makes tougher and 
plumper and firmer leather than liming in the old-fashioned 
way. 

Methods of Drenching Sheepskins. 

Prepare a paddle wheel with water and heat it to I20 degrees 
Fahr. Put into the warm water two pails full of dry bran and 
let it stand over night. The next morning bring the tempera- 
ture up to 95 degrees, and take one pint of lactic acid for every 
one hundred pounds of skins and put about half of it into the 
bran liquor, then throw in the skins, and add the rest of the 
acid slowly afterwards. Run the paddle wheel for from two to 
four hours according to the thickness of the skins and the 
amount of lime in them, then take the skins out and wash them 
with warm water. This washing should not be neglected, 
especially if the tanned skins are to be colored. After the 
skins have been washed they are ready to be pickled. 

For the second pack of skins run the drench liquor down 
about twelve inches and run in an equal quantity of water. Heat 
the liquor to 95 degrees Fahr. Do not use any more bran but 
take one pint of lactic acid for every hundred pounds of skins 
to be treated, and proceed exactly as described for the first lot 
of skins. Continue in this way for six days, then run off all 
the liquor and make up a fresh liquor with water at 120 de- 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 97 

grees Fahr., and two pails of dry bran, allow same to stand at 
least twelve hours and then proceed in the manner described. 
This method of drenching makes the skins soft and clean and 
in good condition for chrome, alum or vegetable tanning. 

Another Method. — For an average weight lot of eight hun- 
dred to one thousand sheepskins, twenty pounds of lactic acid 
and twenty pounds of common salt are required. The water 
should be about 85 degrees Fahr. ; if cooler than this more salt 
will be required to keep down the plumpness. Half of the acid 
and all of the salt should be added to the water before the skins 
are put in ; after the skins have been in fifteen minutes the rest 
of the acid should be put in. The time for drenching should 
be about forty-five minutes in a paddle vat; in a still vat two 
to three hours, the skins being stirred three or four times dur- 
ing that time. Several lots of skins may be put through this 
drench, with a fresh addition of fifteen pounds lactic acid for 
each succeeding pack, adding five pounds at first and ten 
pounds after the skins have been in fifteen minutes. After the 
skins have been drenched they should be rinsed in warm water 
and then pickled. 

The skins can be nicely drenched by using one pint of lactic 
acid for every hundred pounds of skins ; and by careful and 
thorough washing before drenching the quantity of acid can be 
reduced to one and a half pints for eveiy two hundred pounds 
of skins. 

Drenching with Bran. — Take a half-barrel of bran, add 
enough water to make it mushy, cover it up and let it stand for 
forty- eight hours to sour. Into a vat of water large enough to 
hold four hundred skins that is half filled with water, empty the 
sour bran. Add about one and a half quarts of sulphuric acid 
and three pecks of common salt, mix thoroughly and heat to 
90 degrees Fahr. Throw the pack of skins into the prepared 
drench and keep the paddle turning for three hours, heavy skins 
being treated a half hour longer. The skins will be made soft 
and clean by this treatment, and will require no working on the 
beam if intended for black leather, but for colored skins it is 
7 



98 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

advisable to work them out on the beam so that the grain will 
be clear. After the skins have been drenched, they should be 
washed in warm water, whether they are intended to be worked 
over or not, and they will then be in splendid condition to be 
pickled and tanned. Another formula for a bran drench is as 
follows: Take fifty pounds of bran, add water to make a mush, 
and let it stand until it is sour, then put the sour bran into a 
paddle-wheel with seven hundred gallons of warm water. Add 
ten pounds of sulphuric acid and paddle the skins until they 
are soft and clean. Rinse them in warm water and work them 
over the beam and then pickle them. 

Pickling with Sulphuric Acid and Salt. — Pickling may be 
done in a paddle-vat or in a drum. Fill a paddle-vat with 
clean, cold water until the water touches the paddles. For 
every one hundred gallons of water in the vat put in thirty-five 
pounds of clean salt. The washed skins should have been 
draining a few hours before they are pickled. Then for every 
hundred pounds of skins put into the salt water in the vat one 
and a half pounds of sulphuric acid and ten pounds of salt. 
Plunge up the pickle Hquor and put the skins into it. Run the 
paddle for an hour and a half and then let the skins lie in the 
liquor an hour or two ; then place them over horses to press 
and drain twenty-four hours before pressing and tanning them. 
Pickling bleaches the skins, keeps them from spoiling and helps 
to make the leather of uniform quality. The skins can also be 
pickled in this manner: Use three quarts of sulphuric acid and 
seventy-five pounds of salt for one hundred average skins, 
with water enough to cover them. Add the salt to the water, 
then the acid, plunge up thoroughly, put the skins in, and let 
them remain in the pickle from two to three hours. Before 
the skins are pressed and tanned they should drain out of the 
pickle for at least a few hours, and it is better if they can press 
and drain several days before they are tanned. To pickle the 
skins in a drum, weigh them and prepare a pickling liquor in a 
tub or barrel by adding one pound of sulphuric acid and fifteen 
pounds of salt to fifteen gallons of water for each one hundred 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 99 

pounds of skins. Run the skins in this Hquor from thirty 
minutes to one hour; then horse them up smoothly for at least 
twenty-four hours before tanning them. One pound of acid is 
the maximum quantity that should be used. A little less than 
one pound will be found sufficient for light, thin skins. When 
the skins are to be sold in pickled condition, they are allowed 
to drain, and are then sorted according to size and quality and 
rolled up in bundles of one dozen each. To get the best 
Tesults, a tanner should do his own wool-pulling and skin-pick- 
Jing, since he can get more uniform results than he can get by 
buying pickled skins from various dealers and wool-pullers, no 
two of whom treat the skins exactly alike. 

Pressing the Grease from Pickled Sheepskins. 

The following method of removing grease from pickled sheep- 
skins b)' hydraulic pressure is the most satisfactory one that 
•can be used : 

Get a sufificient number of sheet-iron plates as large as the 
press will take, about one-sixteenth of an inch thick; place one 
dozen of skins on each plate, spread out flat with the bellies 
and shanks folded in, so as to have each plate of skins about 
the same size. Place the butt of one skin over the head of the 
-other alternately, and place one plate of skins as squarely as 
possible over the other until the press is full. It will be seen 
that the pressure comes directly on the parts of the skins that 
need it most. After the skins have been pressed, throw them 
into a drum with warm salt water and drum them until they 
have all come apart and are well opened out. They are then 
in right condition to have the pickle removed or to be tanned 
in pickled condition. 

Processes of Chrome Tanning. 

For this process of chrome tanning it is not necessary to re- 
move the acid pickle from the skins, but the grease should be 
removed from them. To accomplish the removal of the grease 
the skins should either be pressed or wrung. Pressing is done 



lOO PRACTICAL TANNING. 

with a hydraulic press. After they have been pressed the 
skins should be drummed in salt water to separate them and 
to open them out and soften them. Then they are ready to 
be tanned. If the grease is to be removed by wringing, the 
skins should be wrung, then drummed in salt water and wrung 
again, and then drummed in salt water and wrung again. After 
they have been pressed or wrung, the skins are put into a drum 
with a solution of two pounds of Glauber's salt and eight gallons 
of warm water (85 degrees Fahr. ) for each hundred pounds of 
skins in the pack. The skins should be drummed for thirty min- 
utes, the liquor then drained ofT and ten pounds of salt and eight 
gallons of water put into the drum for each hundred pounds of 
skins. The drum should then be closed and run fifteen minutes. 
Concentrated one-bath chrome liquor should then be poured 
into the drum and the skins drummed until they are tanned 
which usually takes from three to four hours. Three gallons 
of tan liquor will tan one hundred pounds of skins. At the 
end of three and a half hours dissolve in as little water as pos- 
sible eight ounces of bicarbonate of soda for each one hundred 
pounds of skins and add this solution to the contents of the 
drum and run the drum for forty minutes. If the liquor in the 
drum still shows a deep green color another half pound of bi- 
carbonate of soda may be dissolved and added to the contents 
of the drum, and the skins milled for thirty minutes longer. 
The skins may be left in the liquor over night, enough water 
being added to the liquor to cover them. The skins may 
then be taken out of the drum and allowed to press and drain 
for twenty four hours and then run through a putting-out ma- 
chine and shaved. After this has been done put them into 
a drum with a solution of borax, two pounds of borax for each 
hundred pounds of skins, and wash for twenty minutes. On 
removing the skins from the borax wash they are washed for a 
few minutes in clear water, and they are then ready to be col- 
ored, fat-liquored, dried and finished. 

Tanning with Sulphate of Alumina and Chrome Liquor.- — 
A very satisfactory method of tanning pickled sheep and lamb 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. lOI 

skins with one-bath chrome liquor consists of first tawing them 
with sulphate of alumina and salt and then tanning them 
with the chrome liquor. In this way a leather is made that 
has plump body and fine, smooth grain. When this process 
is used, it is necessary to remove the acid from the skins before 
the sulphate of alumina and salt are applied to them. To ac- 
complish the removal of the acid the skins are stirred about in 
a warm drench of sour bran and salt for a few minutes; they 
are then ready for the first part of the tanning process. 

The usual formula for the preliminary tawing is three pounds 
of sulphate of alumina and six pounds of salt for one hundred 
pounds of skins. These materials are dissolved in six gallons 
of lukewarm water and the solution is put into a tanning drum 
with the skins, and the drum is then set in motion and run for 
forty minutes or until the skins have acquired the right degree 
of plumpness and smoothness of grain. The sulphate of 
alumina does not act as a tanning agent in this process as it is 
washed out before the leather is dried and finished. It is used 
to plump the skins and together with the salt to prevent draw- 
ing or puckering of the grain and contraction of the fibers. 

After the skins have been drummed for forty minutes in the 
solution of sulphate of alumina and salt, one-bath chrome liquor 
is poured into the drum and they are drummed in the com- 
bined liquors until they are tanned. Three gallons of concen- 
trated chrome liquor mixed into three gallons of warm water 
will tan one hundred pounds of skins. This solution is divided 
into three portions, one of which is added to the contents of the 
drum at the end of the forty minutes' preliminary tawing, and 
the drum is run thirty minutes, then a second portion is added 
and the drum is run one hour, then the third portion is added 
and the drum is run for two hours, at the end of which time 
the skins should be tanned through. They should be left in 
the liquor over-night in order to give the chrome salts taken 
up by them time to take full effect upon the fibers. The 
next morning the skins are washed in water containing one- 
half pound of borax for each hundred pounds of tanned skins. 



I02 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

In this water the skins require to be washed fifteen minutes^ 
after which it is necessary to again wash them for fifteen 
minutes in clean cold water. The washing of chrome-tanned' 
skins is an important process and it cannot be slighted or 
omitted if satisfactory leather is to be made. After they have 
been washed, the skins are ready to be struck out, shaved and 
colored. 

Pickled sheepskins may be tanned in the following manner: 
Weigh them and for each hundred pounds prepare two solu- 
tions. Dissolve by boiling three pounds of sulphate of alumina 
in five gallons of water. In another vessel dissolve by boiling 
three pounds of sal soda in five gallons of vvater. Pour the 
solution of sal soda slowly and with constant stirring into the 
solution of sulphate of alumina, allowing a few moments for the 
foaming to subside. The two solutions combined form a milk- 
like liquor. This should be allowed to cool before it is used,, 
or enough cold water may be added to reduce the temperature 
to 85 degrees Fahr. 

Throw the skins into the drum with a solution of salt made 
by dissolving ten pounds of salt in five gallons of water for one 
hundred pounds of skins. Drum the skins in this solution for 
ten minutes, then give them the white liquor described above 
and run the drum thirty minutes. At the end of thirty minutes 
add one gallon of full-strength chrome liquor to the contents 
of the drum and run the drum thirty minutes, then pour into 
the drum another gallon of chrome liquor and drum the skins, 
one hour, then add another gallon to the liquor in the drum 
and let the drum run an hour or two longer or until they 
are struck through with the green liquor. To complete the 
tanning add one pound of salts of tartar dissolved in a gallon' 
of hot water and run the drum one hour, then pour into the 
drum enough cold water to make the liquor cover the 
skins well and let them remain in it until the next morning. 
After being removed from the drum, the skins should be 
allowed to drain for twenty- four hours, then wash them in a 
weak borax bath and next in clean water until all salts are 
washed away and the leather is neutral to the taste. 



the manufacture of sheepskin leather. 103 

Dyeing Chrome-tanned Sheepskins Black. 

For each hundred pounds of shaved skins dissolve by boil- 
ing in twelve gallons of water 

Logwood crystals I j^ pounds. 

Let the liquor cool down to 150 degrees Fahr. and then drum 
the skins in it twenty minutes. While the skins are being 
drummed dissolve by boiling in three gallons of water 

Blue nigrosine 3 ounces. 

When the twenty minutes are up add this solution to the log- 
wood liquor in the drum and run the drum fifteen minutes. 
Then dissolve by boiling in three gallons of water 

Copperas 2 ounces. 

P>luestone )o ounce. 

Pour this solution into the drum and let the skins process 

fifteen or twenty minutes, then wash them for ten minutes in 

clean warm water so as to remove all traces of copperas. They 

should then be wrung, pressed or struck out and prepared for 

fat-liquoring. 

A deep black can be obtained on chrome-tanned sheepskins 

by the following method : For each one hundred pounds of 

skins washed and shaved boil in eight gallons of water 

Logwood crystals i^/o pounds. 

When the dye is dissolved add cold water to make twelve 
gallons of liquor. Then dissolve 

Extract of fustic paste 4 ounces 

in two gallons of water and add it to the logwood liquor and 
stir well. Put the skins into the drum with three gallons of 
water for each hundred pounds of skins and run the drum ten 
minutes to wet them. Then pour in the logwood-fustic liquor 
at a temperature of 120 degrees Fahr. and run the drum 
twenty minutes. In the meantime dissolve in a quart of water, 
for each hundred pounds of skins, 

Bichromate of potash i ounce. 

Add two quarts of cold water and, without stopping the drum, 
pour the solution into it and run it ten minutes. Then drain 



104 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

the drum and wash the skins in three changes of warm water; 
then prepare them for the fat Hquor. 

A good black is obtained on chrome-tanned skins by drum- 
ming them in logwood liquor, then striking the color with 
titanium-potassium oxalate. For one hundred pounds of skins 
dissolve by boiling in twelve gallons of water one and a half 
pounds of logwood crystals, then dissolve four ounces of fustic 
paste in two gallons of hot water and add it to the logwood 
liquor. Drum the skins in this liquor for twenty minutes. In 
the meantime dissolve six ounces of the titanium salt in a pail 
of warm water and at the end of the twenty minues pour this 
solution into the drum and treat the skins ten minutes. A 
deep black results. Wash and fat- liquor in the usual way. 

If this process of dyeing is used take for each hundred pounds 
of skins the following articles : 

Logwood crystals ii^ pounds. 

Carbonate of pqtash 3 ounces. 

Alum 4 ounces. 

Copperas 2 ounces. 

Boil the logwood crystals in ten gallons of water, add the 
potash and cool the liquor to 150 degrees Fahr. Drum the 
skins in this liquor twenty minutes, then add the alum dis- 
solved in a pail of water and run the drum ten minutes. Fin- 
ally, to set the dye, pour through the axle the copperas dis- 
solved in a gallon of water and let the drum run ten minutes 
longer. Wash the skins to remove all the dye, press and 
fat-liquor them. 

The following process consists of giving the skins a tannin mor- 
dant and then coloring the flesh sides blue and the grain sides 
black by means of methyl violet aniline, aniline black and tita- 
nium-potassium oxalate. Retan the skins and mordant the grain 
by using from one to two pints of palmetto extract for each hun- 
dred pounds of skins. Dissolve the extract in six gallons of 
hot water, drum the skins in the liquor twenty minutes. Or 
use from three to four pounds of sumac extract and six gallons 
of hot water. After the .skins have been given the tannin, give 
them eight ounces of methyl violet aniline boiled and dissolved 



THE MANUP'ACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. IO5 

In six gallons of water. Then drum the skins for fifteen min- 
utes in a solution of aniline black, using four ounces for each 
hundred pounds of skins. Finally add four ounces of titanium 
^alt dissolved in hot water, run the drum fifteen minutes, wash, 
press and fat-liquor the leather. 

Sheepskins that have been colored and finished can be dyed 
black and refinished in the following manner: Drum the skins 
in hot water in a drum for at least half an hour to remove the 
finish and prepare the leather to receive the dye. Then for each 
dozen skins dissolve six ounces of permanganate of potash in 
six gallons of warm water. Put this solution into the drum 
with the skins and run the drum fifteen minutes, then without 
stopping the latter add to the liquor in it one pound of log- 
wood crystals dissolved in ten gallons of hot water and run the 
•drum one-half hour. When the half hour is up pour into the 
drum a solution of one ounce of copperas and one-half ounce 
bluestone and run it ten minutes longer, then wash the skins 
in two changes of water, set them out, oil the grain and dry 
them out. 

Pat-liquors for Chrome-tanned Sheep and Lambskin 

Leather. 

I. For each dozen skins to be fat-liquored use 

Egg yolk I pint. 

Flour I pint. 

Olive oil )^ pint. 

Castile soap 4 ounces. 

Water 8 gallons. 

Chip the soap into the water, boil until dissolved and stir in 
the oil. Boil the mixture of soap and oil, cool down to no 
degrees Fahr. and add the egg yolk. Mix the flour into a thin 
paste with cold water, taking care that no lumps are left in it, 
and add to the soap, oil and egg mixture. Mix thoroughly 
and give to the skins at no degrees Fahr., drumming them 
in it for three-quarters of an hour. This is an excellent fat- 
liquor for glove leather. 



I06 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

2. To make a barrel of fat liquor, use 

Palermo fig soap lo pounds. 

Neatsfoot or cod oil 4 gallons. 

Egg yolk 10 pounds. 

Common salt 2 pounds. 

Put the soap into a clean barrel with just sufficient water to- 
cover it. Apply steam and boil and stir until the soap is dis- 
solved. Stir into the oil to cut it a few ounces of sal soda or 
borax and add it to the soap solution. Stir the mixture for a 
few moments until the oil and soap are completely mixed, 
then run in forty gallons of cold water to cool the emulsion. 
Then stir in the egg yolk and salt. Stir the whole again and 
apply to the skins at a temperature of 75 degrees Fahr. 

Twenty gallons of this fat-liquor is sufficient for ten to twelve 
dozen skins. It should be added a pailful at a time to the 
skins, and the quantity used can be varied to suit the tanner's 
judgment. It gives excellent results on light upper leather and 
glove stock. Care should always be taken to cool off the soap 
and oil emulsion before adding the egg yolk to prevent coagu- 
lation of the albuminous constituents of the egg which results 
when the latter is added to water at a temperature higher than 
75 degrees Fahr. 

3. For each dozen skins for dull finish use 

Castile or fig soap 1^ pound. 

Neatsfoot oil i pound. 

Ammonia 2 ounces. 

Boil the soap in three gallons of water, and when it is dis- 
solved add the oil, boiling the mixture one-half hour. Use at 
a temperature of 150 degrees Fahr., and just before putting it 
into the drum add the ammonia to the fat-liquor. Drum the 
skins in the emulsion thirty minutes, then let them press and 
drain until the next day. Cod oil may be substituted for 
neatsfoot with equally good results. 

4. For fifty gallons of fat- liquor use 

Light English sod oil 40 pounds. 

Palermo fig soap 20 pounds. 

Boil the soap in twelve gallons of water; when it is dissolved 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. lO/ 

add the oil, stirring and boiling the mixture for several minutes,, 
then run in enough water to make fifty gallons of fat-liquor. 
Use three-fourths of a pail for each dozen skins. 

5. For each dozen skins in the pack to be fat-liquored use 

Treated cod oil i pound. 

Salts of tartar 2 ounces. 

Strong ammonia 2 ounces. 

Boil the oil and salts of tartar in three gallons of water for 
twenty minutes, then add the ammonia. Drum the skins in 
the liquor thirty minutes. A gallon or two of cold water can 
be added to the oil emulsion before the ammonia is put in. 

6. For each dozen of skins use 

Egg yolk I pint. 

Neatsfoot or olive oil ^o pint. 

Apply to the skins lukewarm and drum thirty minutes. 

7. For two hundred pounds of colored skins use 

Peerless oil soap 8 ounces. 

Olive oil 2 pounds. 

Treated cod oil 2 pounds. 

Birch oil 2 ounces. 

Salts of tartar 3 ounces. 

Boil the soap, olive and cod oils in a few gallons of water until 
dissolved, then add the birch oil. Stir the emulsion thoroughly,, 
then add to it the salts of tartar dissolved in two quarts of hot 
water. Add water to make fifteen gallons of fat-liquor and 
give to the skins at a temperature of 160 degrees Fahr. This 
fat-liquor is especially good for skins colored with alizarine dye. 

8. For one hundred pounds of skins use 

Palermo fig soap }n pound. 

Neatsfoot oil 1,^2 pounds. 

Moellon degras i)^' pounds. 

Salts of tartar 2 ounces. 

Boil the soap and oil in four gallons of water, then put in 
the moellon degras and stir thoroughly. Dissolve the salts of 
tartar in a little water, add to the emulsion and stir hard. Run 
in enough water to make twelve gallons of fat-liquor and apply 
it to the skins at 150 degrees Fahr. This is suitable for glove 
leather. 



i08 practical tanning. 

Methods of Coloring Chrome-tanned Sheepskins. 

A liquor composed of fustic extract and gambier makes an 
•excellent mordant for aniline dyes. For each hundred pounds 
of skins, weighed after shaving, use two pounds of gambier and 
one pound of extract of fustic. Dissolve by boiling in four 
gallons of water, then cool the liquor down with cold water to 
make twelve or fourteen gallons. Put the skins into the drum 
with the gambier and fustic liquor and run the drum forty 
minutes. While the skins are drumming dissolve four ounces 
of titanium salts (titanium-potassium oxalate) in hot water, and 
at the end of the forty minutes add the solution to the liquor in 
the drum and run the drum ten minutes. Then wash the skins 
and apply basic aniline dye, and when they have taken up 
the color, wash and fat-liquor them. If an acid dye is to be 
used, the skins need not be washed after they have been mor- 
danted with gambier, fustic and titanium salts. And if the 
mordant is all taken up by the skins no washing is necessary ; 
simply drain the liquor out of the drum and apply the aniline 
solution. This is a good process for any shade of tan and 
brown. 

The tanning material most commonly used in coloring 
chrome-tanned sheepskins is sumac. Upon some small and 
medium-size skins four ounces of liquid extract of sumac may 
be used for each dozen. The sumac is mixed with water 
at a temperature of no degrees Fahr. , and the skins are 
drummed in the liquor so prepared for twenty minutes. Then 
pour into the drum the solution of titanium salts, run the drum 
ten minutes, and then color with acid dyes without washing the 
skins, or wash them and apply basic dye. Dry powdered sumac 
may be used. After the skins have been washed and shaved 
they are run in a drum in a bath of warm water of no degrees 
Fahr. to which about two pounds of the sumac have been 
added. The particles of sumac serve the useful purpose of 
taking up whatever grease there may be upon the grain as 
well as acting as a mordant by giving up tannic acid. 

An excellent shade of tan is obtained on chrome sheepskins 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 109 

in the following manner: The skins, washed and shaved, are 
put into the coloring drum with fourteen gallons of water at 
I 10 degrees Fahr. for every hundred pounds of leather. The 
drum is started and two pounds of fustic extract, lemon shade^ 
dissolved in hot water, is run in through the hollow axle. After 
the skins have been run in this solution for thirty minutes four 
ounces of titanium salts are dissolved in hot water and poured 
into the drum and the leather is drummed fifteen minutes 
longer. The coloring is then complete and the skins are then 
washed and fat-liquored. 

If a dark tan is wanted use this formula. Dissolve four 
pounds of fustic extract, red shade, in four gallons of boiling 
water, then add enough cold water to make fourteen gallons of 
liquor for one hundred pounds of skins. Drum the skins in 
this liquor thirty minutes, then without stopping the drum pour 
through the hollow axle a solution of six ounces of titanium- 
potassium oxalate and let the drum rotate fifteen minutes 
longer, then take the skins out of the drum, wash and fat-liquor 
them. 

If chocolate brown is wanted, put the leather into the drum 
with a solution of two and one-fourth pounds of fustic extract^ 
lemon shade, and ten ounces of hypernic extract, the two ex- 
tracts being dissolved so as to make fourteen gallons of solution 
for one hundred pounds of leather, dissolve and add three ounces 
of logwood crystals. Drum the skins in this liquor for one 
half hour, then pour through the axle of the drum five ounces 
of titanium salts dissolved in a gallon of hot water and run 
the drum fifteen minutes longer. At the end of that time the 
skins will have assumed the brown shade and they should then 
be washed, fat-liquored and dried. 

A rich shade of chocolate brown is obtained by the use of 
aniline dyes on a tannin mordant in the following manner: Boil 
until dissolved two pounds of gambier and one pound of ex- 
tract of fustic in four gallons of water, cool down with cold 
water to make fourteen gallons of liquor. Drum one hundred 
pounds of skin in this liquor for thirty minutes, then pour into 



no PRACTICAL TANNING. 

the drum four ounces of titanium-potassium oxalate dissolved in 
a gallon of hot water, and drum the skins fifteen minutes longer. 
If the mordant has been taken up by the leather, run the 
liquor off and pour the dye solution into the drum. If the 
mordant has not been entirely taken up it is best to wash the 
skins before giving them the aniline dye. For six dozen skins 
use eight ounces yellow 849 and drum the skins ten minutes, 
then add one pound chocolate-brown 270, eight ounces bis- 
marck-brown, eight ounces chocolate-brown O, dissolved ail 
together and poured through the hollow axle while the drum 
is in motion. Run the drum twenty minutes after the color 
has been put in, then wash the skins, fat-liquor them and hang 
them up to dry. Extract of sumac may be used as a mordant 
if preferred, also palmetto extract. The skins may be drummed 
in the tannin bath, then given the titanium salts, washed and 
colored by the use of three ounces of chocolate-brown aniline 
270 for each dozen. 

Formula for a good shade of brown. Use five ounces of 
liquid extract of fustic for each dozen skins to be colored. 
Drum them in this liquor twenty minutes, then dissolve 
two ounces of tartar emetic in hot water and pour the solution 
into the drum and drum the skins fifteen minutes, then wash 
them, put them back into the drum and apply a color solu- 
tion made by dissolving the following dyes : Four ounces of 
phosphine for leather, one-fourth of an ounce of leather green 
M, one-half ounce of methyl violet 2 B for each dozen skins. 
The dyes should be thoroughly dissolved and mixed before 
they are used. Drum the skins in the color bath twenty 
minutes, then wash and fat-liquor them. Sumac may be used 
in place of fustic, also palmetto extract or a mixture of fustic 
and gambier. 

Goldenrod-yellow, bismarck-brown and champagne anilines 
are valuable in dyeing chrome-tanned skins. A combination of 
goldenrod-yellow, blue and brown produces a fine shade of tan. 
Mordant the skins with gambier and fustic, then run into the 
drum eight ounces of titanium-potassium oxalate for two hun- 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. Ill 

dred pounds of skins and run the drum fifteen minutes, then 
wash the skins and dye them with one and one-quarter pounds 
of goldenrod-yellow, one-half pound of brown aniUne and one- 
eighth of an ounce of blue or green aniline. Drum them 
in the dye twenty minutes and they will then be found to have 
assumed a desirable tan color that is fast to light and very 
uniform. In place of gambler and fustic from four to six 
ounces of liquid extract of sumac may be used for each dozen 
skins to prepare them for the dye. 

The popular oxblood or wine color is obtained on chrome 
sheepskins by following these instructions: Put the pack of 
skins into the dyeing drum and throw in twelve gallons of 
water for each hundred pounds to be colored. The tem- 
perature of the water should be 130 degrees Fahr. Dis- 
solve by boiling in three or four gallons of water two and one- 
fourth pounds of hypernic extract, one and one-half ounces of 
logwood crystals and one-half ounce leather-red for each hun- 
dred pound of skins. Start the drum, then pour this color 
solution through the hollow axle and after the last of it is in 
the drum run the skins in it for one-half hour. Dissolve in 
hot v.'ater four and one-half ounces of titanium-potassium 
oxalate and pour into the drum and let the drum rotate fifteen 
minutes longer. The skins, at the end of that time should 
have assumed the desired color and they are then washed and 
finished. 

A good oxblood color can be obtained in this manner: For 
each dozen skins use from four to six ounces of extract of fustic 
according to the size of the skins. Dissolve this in sufficient 
water to drum the skins nicely, use at a temperature of one 
hundred and ten degrees Fahr. and drum them in the liquor for 
fifteen minutes. Then add to the liquor in the drum two 
ounces of tartar emetic for each dozen skins and run the drum 
fifteen minutes longer. Wash the skins and prepare a color 
bath at 120 degrees Fahr, Use from two and a half to three 
ounces of aniline dye amaranth 3/R for each dozen skins and 
drum in this twenty minutes, then wash and fat-liquor them. 



112 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

The shade can be darkened by using two ounces of the 
amaranth aniline and one ounce of chocolate-brown for each 
dozen skins. When tartar emetic is used nothing else is needed 
to fasten the color upon the leather, but when it is not used 
one ounce of bichromate of potash should be dissolved and 
poured into the drum after the leather has been drummed fif- 
teen or twenty minutes in the dye, the drumming then con- 
tinued for ten minutes. This will set the dye upon the leather. 
A liquor made of fustic and peachwood extracts is an excellent 
mordant for wine color. The skins are drummed in this 
twenty minutes, then titanium salts are run in, they are then 
drummed ten minutes, then washed and colored by the use of 
amaranth aniline to which one-eighth of an ounce of malachite- 
green has been added. 

Alizarine-brown and yellow fustic produce a fine shade of 
color suitable for shoe and glove leather. No tannin mordant 
is necessary as the alizarine dyes color chrome skins without a 
mordant. Take a lot of skins after they have been shaved and 
weigh them. For each hundred pounds dissolve twelve ounces 
of alizarine leather-brown B No. 9052 by boiling in six gallons 
of water. Be sure the dye is all dissolved. When it is dissolved 
add enough cold water to make twelve gallons of liquor. Use 
this dye at 165 degrees Fahr. Put the skins into the drum, start 
the drum and pour the dye through the hollow axle, then 
drum them in the dye thirty minutes. While the skins are being 
drummed in the alizarine dye dissolve one quart of extract of 
yellow fustic in one gallon of hot water and at the end of the 
thirty minutes pour the solution into the drum and run it 
fifteen minutes longer. Drain ofif the spent dye liquor; wash 
and fat-liquor the skins. 

To get a fine brown a little dififerent from the foregoing but 
equally desirable use the following formula: Run the skins in 
water at 150 degrees Fahr. for fifteen minutes, using twelve 
gallons for each hundred pounds. In the meantime dissolve 
four ounces of alizarine brown G in a gallon of water, pour into 
the drum and run fifteen minutes. Then pour into the drum 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. II3 

four ounces of alizarine yellow R and three-fourths of an ounce 
of alizarine new yellow extra dissolved in two gallons of water 
and run the drum fifteen minutes. Next dissolve one pound of 
extract of yellow-fustic in a pail of water, add to the contents 
of the drum and run the drum ten minutes. Finally add two 
ounces of bichromate of potash dissolved in a pail of water and 
run the drum fifteen minutes longer. Rinse the skins in warm 
water and they are ready to be fat-liquored. 

To color chrome sheep a nice shade of green use five ounces 
liquid extract of fustic per dozen or the same quantity of liquid 
extract of sumac for the bottom, drumming the skins in this 
for fifteen minutes, then add a solution of titanium salts, drum 
ten minutes, then rinse the skins and color them by using three 
ounces per dozen of either leather-green special or dark green 
M and one and one-half ounces amaranth i/R. Drum the 
skins in this dye twenty minutes ; then wash and fat-liquor them. 

Or use this process: Drum the skins for fifteen minutes in 
four ounces per dozen, extract of sumac in water at 1 10 degrees 
Fahr. Then add to the same bath four ounces titanium salts 
for each hundred pounds of skins dissolved in a pail of hot 
water and run the drum ten minutes. If the mordant appears 
to be entirely taken up, drain the liquor out and put in 
the color solution as directed in the foregoing formula. Run 
the skins in the dye twenty minutes or longer and then wash 
and fat-liquor them. 

If a dark olive-green color is wanted take the skins from the 
shavers and for each hundred pounds use ten gallons of hot 
water and wash them in this fifteen minutes, then drain the 
drum. Pour into the drum three pounds of extract of fustic 
dissolved in twelve gallons of hot water and run the drum one- 
half hour. Then take twelve ounces of copperas dissolved 
the day before, allowed to settle and the clear liquor taken ofif. 
Pour half of this liquor into the drum and at the end of fifteen 
minutes' drumming look at the skins. If they are dark enough 
wash and fat liquor them; if not dark enough add more cop- 
peras liquor and run fifteen minutes longer, then wash them 
very thoroughly and give them the fat-liquor. 
8 



114 practical tanning. 

Yellow Glove and Mitten Leather. 

Boil twenty five pounds of gambier in a barrel three-fourths 
full of water, then add one pint of muriate of tin and three 
ounces of tin crystals and fill the barrel with water. For each 
one hundred and fifty skins use four pails of this gambier liquor 
at 95 degrees Fahr. and two pails of water. Drum them in this 
one hour, then dissolve in two gallons of hot water one-half 
pound of picric acid and one-half pound of fustic and pour this 
solution into the drum with the gambier liquor. Let the drum 
run in the liquor thirty minutes, then rinse the skins, set them 
out or let them drain and then fat-liquor them. This process 
produces a nice light yellow color that is in demand for gloves 
and mittens. 

Another good formula for yellow glove leather is as follows : 
Dissolve a pound and a half of yellow fustic and five ounces of 
tin crystals in five gallons of boiling water for each hundred 
pounds of skins. Run them in this twenty minutes, then add 
five ounces auramine II in three gallons of hot water and drum 
the skins twenty minutes, then take them out and prepare them 
for the fat-liquor. 

Coloring Chrome-tanned Sheepskins After Fat- 
Liquoring. 

Prepare a mordant by boiling in five gallons of water two 
pounds of gambier, palmetto or sumac extracts or one pound 
of gambier and one pound of fustic extract for one hundred 
poimds of washed and shaved skins ; then add enough cold water 
to make twelve gallons of liquor. Rup the skins in this liquor for 
fifteen minutes. Then fat-liquor with acid fat liquor, using two 
or three pounds of the oil in ten gallons of hot water for one 
hundred pounds of leather. After this has been done, rinse 
the skins in warm water and then color them. 

Dissolve four ounces of titanium-potassium oxalate in a few 
gallons of hot water and drum the skins in the solution for ten 
minutes. Then drain the liquor out of the drum ; put in the 
aniline solution ; run the drum twenty minutes and then rinse 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. I15 

the skins off in warm water, strike them out and hang them up 
to dry. 

The process may also be carried out by first fat-Hquoring 
them, then running them in a sumac or other tan liquor, then 
applying the titanium salts and aniline dye. This method of 
coloring produces nice, uniformly colored skins. 

Finishing Black Glazed Sheepskins. 

After chrome-tanned sheepskins have been dyed black and 
fat-liquored, they should be struck out and the grain oiled very 
hghtly with a mixed oil made by mixing one part neatsfoot and 
three parts paraf^n oil for glazed finish and two parts neatsfoot 
and two parts parafhn for dull or mat finish. Sheepskins can 
be made into nice glazed leather without any fat-liquor or oil 
at all but the usual practice is to fat-liquor them lightly and 
apply a little oil to the grain ; however, care must be taken 
not to apply too much and make them too soft and spongy. 
The skins, after receiving the oil, are hung up to dry. The 
best results are obtained from slow drying in a room, with a 
temperature of about 80 degrees Fahr. and having a good circu- 
lation of air. When the skins are dry, dampen them for staking. 
The best way to dampen them is to have a tub two-thirds full 
of warm water and to put about a dozen into the water 
at a time, leaving them two or three minutes therein, then 
placing them in a pile, well covered, on the floor or in a box. 
When they are sufficiently pliable to be staked, stake and 
tack them on boards to dry. Be sure to stretch them well onto 
the boards, for a lot of measurement is lost when they are 
not tacked out nice and smooth. When they are dry, take 
them off the boards, trim them and prepare them for the 
seasoning and finish. 

Before applying any seasoning, clear the grain with a weak 
solution of lactic acid. Mix one gallon of the acid into eight 
gallons of water and rub this liquor well into the grain, then 
dry the skins and when they are dry put on the seasoning. 
The following formula will be found satisfactory for black 
glazed sheepskins : 



Il6 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Ivory Soap i pound. 

Glue I pound. 

Logwood Crystals 3 ounces. 

Nigrosine 4 ounces. 

Bichromate of Potash 1^ ounce. 

Fresh Blood 2 quarts. 

Dissolve the soap in eight gallons of boiling water and the 
glue in eight gallons of water. Dissolve the logwood and 
nigrosine in two gallons of hot water and add the bichromate 
of potash. When cold add the blood. Take one quart of the 
glue solution and one quart of soap solution and mix into the 
logwood and blood solution. Stir the mixture well and then 
strain it. Give the skins a light coat of this seasoning and rub 
it well into the grain. When the seasoning has dried glaze 
them, then give a second coat of seasoning, dry and glaze 
again. Oil the glazed surface with warm finishing oil or with a 
mixture of equal parts of neatsfoot and paraffine oils. 

The following formula also produces an excellent seasonings 

for glazed finish : 

Whole Flaxseed 2 ounces. 

Logwood Crystals 2 ounces. 

Nigrosine • 2 ounces. 

Bichromate of Botash y^ ounce. 

Vinette y^ pint. 

Blood I quart. 

Glycerine 3^ pint. 

Carbolic Acid Crystals i ounce. 

Boil the flaxseed in a gallon of water one-half hour, then 
strain and add the logwood, nigrosine and potash and boil up 
again, then cool the solution to 90 degrees Fahr. and stir into it 
the vinette, blood, glycerine and carbolic acid. There should 
be two gallons of seasoning ; if there is less add enough cold 
water to make the quantity specified. Apply to the skins and 
finish them in the same manner as directed in the preceding 
formula. 

Another good formula for a glazed finish is : 

Blood Albumen I pound. 

Black Nigrosine 5 ounces. 

Logwood Crystals i ounce. 

Wood Alcohol I gill. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. II7 

Dissolve the blood albumen in a quart of water over night. 
Put the nigrosine and logwood into three gallons of water and 
boil until dissolved. When the solution is cold add the albumen 
and wood alcohol. Give the skins two coats of this seasoning 
and glaze them twice. Oil the glazed surface with warm paraf- 
fine oils or with a mixture of neatsfoot and parafifine oils. 

A good way to clear the grain of greasy matter is to rub into 
it a solution of black nigrosine and wood alcohol. Dissolve an> 
ounce of nigrosine in one gallon of water and add to this a little 
wood alcohol. Rub this into the grain of the skins and when 
it is dry apply the seasoning. The black is deepened by this 
treatment, and the grain is cleared. 

Seasoning for Dull Finish. 

Ivory Soap i pound. 

Flaxseed 1^ pound. 

Beeswax 4 ounces. 

Black Nigrosine 4 ounces. 

Gelatine 4 ounces. 

Aloes 2 ounces. 

Wood Alcohol 1^ pint. 

Put the soap, flaxseed and beeswax into two gallons of water 
and boil thirty minutes, then add the nigrosine. Dissolve the 
gelatine in a quart of water and add to the solution. Then 
dissolve the aloes in the wood alcohol, add this solution to the 
other, and strain the mixture. After taking the skins from the 
tacking boards trim them and apply a coat of this dressing, 
rubbing it in well ; then hang the skins up to dry and when 
they are dry iron them and then give another coat of dressing, 
but do not iron again. Oil the grain with parafhne oil, and the 
skins are finished. 

Finishing Colored Sheepskins. 

A clear, bright finish is obtained on colored sheepskins by 
using a seasoning made of egg-albumen solution, acetic acid, 
bichromate of potash and water. The proportions are four 
gallons of egg-albumen solution, one ounce of bichromate of 



Il8 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

potash, two quarts of acetic acid and twenty gallons of water. 
The ingredients should be thoroughly mixed. A light coat is 
applied to the skins, thoroughly rubbed into the grain, the 
skins dried in a warm room and then glazed. A second and 
sometimes a third coat of the seasoning is required. The less 
seasoning that is used the better will be the finish, as the leather 
will stand handling better and the grain will show plainly 
through the finish, which is considered desirable. 

There are very good seasoning or glazing liquors on the 
market that can be bought ready for use. The tanner can buy 
them and dispense with the trouble of making his own finishes. 
This course is pursued by many who find it advantageous and 
convenient. Sheepskins require very little and, for some pur- 
poses, no fat-liquor at all to make them sufficiently soft, neither 
do they need much staking and working, but on the contrary,, 
the less they are staked the firmer are they when finished. 

A good seasoning for black glazed sheepskins is made of: 

Logwood Liquor 6 quarts. 

Oxblood 2 quarts. 

Orchil 1'^ pint. 

Water i quart. 

Ammonia 3^4 pint. 

Milk 1^ pint. 

This produces a regular kid finish. 

Glazed Fiiiish on Colored Sheepskins. — A solution of vinegar^ 
bichromate of potash and water is useful in clearing the grain 
of colored skins for glazed finish. To twelve parts water add 
one part strong apple or cider vinegar and a little bichromate 
of potash. Go over the grain, rubbing it in well; then dry 
and apply a coat of: 

Egg Albumen 1 2 pints. 

Bichromate of Potash ^4 ounce. 

Aceiic Acid lo ounces. 

Water 5 gallons. 

Dissolve the albumen and mix all together; then add one 
teaspoonful sperm oil and three pints more of water. Rub the 
finish in well, dry and glaze. For second seasoning use : 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. II9 

Blood 3 gallons. 

Water 5 gallons. 

Vinette 2 pints. 

Apply a coat of this, dry and glaze, and the skins are then 
finished. 

Finishing Sheepskin Glove Leather. 

Chrome-tanned sheep and lamb skin glove leather may be 
finished in two different ways. One way to treat the skins is to 
take them after they have been washed and shaved, and color 
them with wood or aniline dye, then fat-liquor them, dry, 
stake and finish them. The final finishing consists of running 
the grain of the skin on a plush wheel which makes it smooth 
and gives it a pleasing polish. 

The other way is to take the skins out of the tan liquor, press 
them and shave them, then color and fat-liquor them and hang 
them up to dry. After the skins are dry let them lie a few 
days, then put them into a drum with cold water and wash them 
in it for two hours until they are clean, then let them drain 
over a horse over night and the next day hang them up to dry. 
Finish the skins by dampening, staking, drying and polishing 
the grain on a plush wheel. When the skins are handled this 
way they work out very soft and with a good color. Coloring 
and fat-liquoring are done in the usual way. Formulas and 
instructions are given that will produce leather of the best 
quality. Popular colors are light and dark-tan, yellow, brown 
and oxblood. The instructions that are given for these shades 
may be followed whether the skins are washed immediately 
after tanning or after they have been dried and staked. 

When flour is used in the fat-liquor the skins are made fuller 
and plumper than when it is not used. 

An excellent way to finish glove sheepskins is to dry them 
after staking, then put them into a drum with powdered soap- 
stone and drum them in it for two hours, then take them out, 
stake them again, and they are finished. 



i20 practical tanning. 

Flesh-Finished Chrome Sheepskins. 

For some purposes chrome-tanned sheepskins finished 
upon the flesh with a soft velvety finish are wanted. For this 
class of leather, skins that have a defective grain are used since 
the value of the leather does not depend upon the quality of 
the grain. These skins are used chiefly in the manufacture of 
gloves and mittens, but they are also suitable for many other 
purposes. 

The skins, taken in pickled condition, are pressed to remove 
the grease; they are then drummed in warm hyposulphite of 
soda solution. For each hundred pounds of skins a solution 
of ten pounds of hyposulphite of soda in twenty gallons of 
water is prepared; temperature when used 95 degrees Fahr. 
The skins are drummed in this solution for forty minutes. The 
drum is then drained and the chrome tanning liquor is put in. 
The skins require five pounds of salt, three gallons of concen- 
trated chrome liquor and ten gallons of water for every hun- 
dred pounds of skins. The salt water and one gallon of chrome 
liquor are put into the drum and the skins are drummed in the 
liquor one-half hour; then another gallon of chrome liquor is 
poured into the drum and the drumming is continued one-half 
hour, then the third gallon of chrome liquor is put in and the 
skins are drummed two hours or until they are tanned. A few 
ounces of salts of tartar dissolved in hot water are then poured 
into the drum and the skins are drummed one hour longer. 
They are then piled down for twenty-four hours, then run 
through the fleshing machine or shaved, after which they are 
washed in borax water and then in clear water the same as 
grain-finished skins. Another good tanning process is as fol- 
lows : For each one hundred pounds of skins, three pounds 
of sulphate of alumina, five pounds of common salt and four 
pounds of Glauber's salt are dissolved in six gallons of warm 
water, and the skins are drummed in the solution forty minutes. 
Chrome tanning material is then poured into the drum and the 
skins are drummed until they are tanned. Three gallons of 
concentrated chrome liquor will tan one hundred pounds of 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 121 

^kins. When they are tanned, the skins should be left in the 
liquor over night, then drained for twenty-four hours, shaved 
and washed. Nice flesh and grain finished skins can be made 
by using a preliminary solution of sulphate of alumina and 
borax, six pounds of the former and three pounds of the latter, 
dissolved in ten gallons of water being used for one hundred 
pounds of skins. First, however, the pressed skins are run in 
a solution of eight pounds of salt and six gallons of water for 
twenty minutes. The solution of sulphate of alumina and borax 
is then poured into the drum, which is then run forty minutes. 
Chrome liquor is then poured into the drum, and the skins are 
tanned as in the preceding process. 

Treatmejit after Tanning. — After the skins are washed they 
are put into a drum with four gallons of water and five pounds 
of pipe-clay for one hundred pounds of skins and drummed 
therein twenty minutes. They are then run on a wet wheel, 
which gives a good face to the leather. After the skins have 
been faced they should be run in warm water for fifteen min- 
utes ; they are then in condition to be colored. 

Coloring and Fat-Liquoring. — The coloring is done in the 
same manner as upon grain-finished skins. Fustic, gambier, 
sumac or other dyeing material is used as a mordant for aniline 
colors. Or alizarine dyes may be used ; also fustic and other 
natural dyestufifs in conjunction with titanium salts. Receipts 
for many desirable shades have already been given ; they need 
not be given again. 

As a fat-liquor an emulsion of egg yolk, olive oil, castile soap 
and flour is especially suitable. The formula for this will be 
found in the section devoted to fat-liquors for sheepskins. 
Drying and staking are done in the usual manner. Staking on 
a machine should be followed by knee staking so as to get all 
the stretch out. The skins are then given a light run on a very 
fine emery wheel, and they are then ready to be trimmed and 
sorted. If the work has been properly done the finished skins 
are very soft, evenly colored and with a smooth, velvet-like 
face. Finishing on fine emery removes all roughness and 



122 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

makes the skins soft and smooth. Acid fat-liquor is suitable 
for these skins. 

If white skins are wanted the tanning process is followed by 
a treatment with flour, fat-liquoring and finishing being theni 
proceeded with in the manner already described. 

Drenching and Pickling Sheepskins with Formic Acid.. 

After the skins have been taken out of the lime and washed; 
and fleshed they are in suitable condition to be drenched. 
Washing after fleshing should be done in warm water, 95 
degrees Fahr., and the more the skins are washed, the less acid 
will be necessary. 

Formic and lactic acids in the proportion of four parts of the 
former and one part of the latter should be used, as the combi- 
nation produces better results than formic acid alone. Of 
the mixed acids, about one-fourth of a pint is added to water 
in a paddle-wheel, this quantity being used for one hundred 
skins. The water should be at a temperature of 90 degrees 
Fahr., and it should be thoroughly plunged or stirred after the 
acid is added to it. The skins are run in the drench for fifteen 
minutes, when another fourth of a pint of mixed acid is added 
and the skins are pressed fifteen minutes longer. This quantity 
of acid, namely, one-half pint, is the maximum quantity for 
one liundred heavily-limed skins. In many cases less acid will 
suffice. Too much acid causes the skins to swell and the grain 
to pipe. Heavy skins may be drenched from thirty minutes 
to an hour. It is always best to add the acid in two or three 
portions at intervals of fifteen minutes rather than to add the 
full quantity before the skins are put into the drench. The 
skins should become soft and thin in the drench. And when 
they have attained this condition, wash them in cold water and 
then place them in a light sour bran drench for the purpose of 
opening them and removing the last trace of lime that may 
remain in them after the acid drench. 

Bran drenching may be done during the day or during the 
night. When done during the night the skins will be found at 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 23 

the surface of the drench the next morning, and they should 
then be washed and pickled. 

When bran previously soured is used, about one-half the 
usual quantity will suffice for these skins. Or the drench can 
be made by using two pecks of bran, adding to it sufficient 
warm water in the paddle to cover the skins. The skins are 
thrown in and pushed down, and the vat is then covered to 
retain the heat and left until the next morning. The bran 
should be mashed with water in a tub before it is used ; and 
the temperature of the drench should be 90 degrees Fahr. 
The skins will rise to the surface of the liquor during the night; 
in the morning take them out, wash and scud them if they 
require it, and then pickle them. It is not necessary to accom- 
plish the complete deliming of the skins in the acid drench, as 
the sour bran will remove whatever lime the skins retain. 

Pickling is done in the following described manner: Prepare 
an acid bath by adding from twelve ounces to one pound of 
formic acid to twenty-five gallons of water. Paddle the skins 
in this solution for several hours ; then put them into a fairly 
strong salt water for thirty minutes, which completes the pro- 
cess. Pickling can also be done by drumming the skins in a 
0.25 per cent, solution of formic acid for thirty minutes, then 
putting them into a solution of salt for one-half hour or longer. 

Skins pickled with formic acid have a darker color than 
skins pickled with either sulphuric or acetic acid, due to iron 
in the acid, and are therefore not so attractive in appearance, 
but they are thoroughly pickled and can be kept for a long 
time without spoiling. 

Pickling with Acetic Acid. — Acetic acid may be used to 
pickle hides and skins, in place of sulphuric acid, which is 
generally employed. The process may be carried out in a 
drum b)'' using fifty pounds of salt, one pound of acetic acid 
and sufficient water to process the skins nicely for one hundred 
hides or a proportionate number of skins. The skins should 
be processed at least one hour and may be left in the solution 
several hours without injury. 



124 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Upon skins that are thoroughly drenched, acetic acid pro- 
duces a clean grain and preserves them, as well as putting 
them into excellent condition for tanning, and there need be no 
fear of burning the grain or fiber. 

When a paddle wheel is used, the skins are best pickled by 
being run in a 0.15 per cent, solution of acetic acid for several 
hours, then allowed to drain several hours and then put into a 
fairly strong salt solution. To process the skins slowly assures 
the uniform penetration of the acid and the destruction of all 
germs of decay. 

Sheepskins for Jacket Leather. 

Sheepskins intended for jacket or coat leather should be 
tanned in a chrome process which makes them more waterproof 
and durable, than by the old-fashioned process of gambier, alum 
and salt. Starting with pickled skins, the first operation is 
pressing to remove the grease ; then the skins are in condition 
to be tanned in the following process which is about the cheap- 
est that can be used. For each hundred pounds of skins to be 
tanned, dissolve one pound of Glauber's salt in eight gallons of 
lukewarm water. Drum the skins in this solution ten or fifteen 
minutes. The drum is then stopped, the skins are thrown back 
upon the pins of the drum, the plug is pulled out and the solu- 
tion allowed to drain ofif. The plug is then replaced in the 
drum, and ten pounds of salt and eight gallons of water are put 
into the drum with the skins, and the drum is run five minutes. 
Chrome tanning liquor is then poured into the drum in portions 
of a gallon at a time, at intervals of one-half hour each, until 
three gallons have been added to the contents of the drum for 
every hundred pounds of skins to be tanned. The drum should 
be run two hours after the last gallon of tan liquor has been 
put in. In as little water as possible one-half pound of bicar- 
bonate of soda is dissolved and added to the contents of the 
drum and the skins are drummed one-half hour longer. If at 
the end of this time the liquor in the drum still shows a deep 
green color, another half-pound of the soda may be dissolved 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 25 

and added to the contents of the drum and the skins drummed 
another half-hour. The tanning should now be completed^ 
but if any doubt exists in the mind of the tanner, the skins may 
be drummed longer or they may be allowed to remain in the 
liquor over night, enough water being added to the tan liquor 
to cover the skins. They should then be removed from the 
drum and allowed to press and drain for twenty-four hours. 
After pressing and draining, the skins are thrown into a drum 
with a solution of borax or bicarbonate of soda, about two 
pounds for one hundred pounds of skins, and washed therein 
for one-half hour; they are then washed in clean water; 
pressed, shaved and colored. 

Coloring is done in the same manner as for other black 
chrome sheepskins, after which the skins are fat-liquored. The 
fat-liquor should consist of soap and oil, and the grain of the 
skins should be oiled with neatsfoot or cod oil, and the skins 
should then be dried. Finishing consists of staking, tacking^ 
seasoning and ironing or rolling. The finish should be a dull 
one. Boil one-half pound of Irish moss in one gallon of water 
to which one-quarter ounce of blue vitriol has been added. 
Boil several hours until well cooked, adding water from time to 
time to keep the solution up to the required quantity. To this 
solution add one-quarter ounce of potash and one-half ounce 
of prussiate of potash, which should be dissolved in a little 
water and poured in cold. For the above mixture boil one 
ounce of black nigrosine in one gallon of water and add it to 
the moss solution. Strain the finish ; apply it to the skins and 
while they are still damp iron or roll them. An old process 
of tanning jacket leather consists of gambler, alum, salt, soda 
and picric acid. The fat-liquor is an emulsion of soap, oil and 
degras. Finishing consists of applying a dull dressing, then 
ironing the skins and oiling the grain, which helps to make it 
waterproof. 

White Sheep Leather. 

For soft white leather that is suitable for any purpose for 
which such leather is required, tanning with sulphate of alumina 



126 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

and bicarbonate of soda in the following manner will be found 
a satisfactor)' process. The pickled skins should be soaked in 
salt water to remove all wrinkles and then hung up and dried. 
If the tanner prepares his skins himself he should take them 
out of the pickle and hang them up to dry in such manner that 
they will not dry with wrinkles in them. It is also advisable 
to wring or press the skins before drying them so as to remove 
as much grease from them as possible. When the skins are 
dry, they are degreased in naphtha and then dried, softened in 
a drum with salt water and then tanned. After the skins have 
been degreased and the naphtha evaporated, put them into a 
drum with ten gallons of water, in which have been dissolved 
one pound of Glauber's salt and three pounds of common salt 
for each hundred pounds of pickled skins. Let the skins drum 
in this solution for fifteen minutes, then drain the solution out 
of the drum. Then put into the drum ten gallons of lukewarm 
water and four pounds of salt, and drum the skins in this solu- 
tion for ten minutes. There should have been prepared several 
hours or a day before the tanning liquor made as follows : Boil 
until dissolved in ten gallons of water, twelve pounds of sul- 
phate of alumina. In a clean pail dissolve by boiling in a 
gallon of water one and one-half pounds of bicarbonate of soda. 
Pour the soda solution slowly and with constant stirring into 
the alumina liquor, taking care to pour it very slowly and to 
allow intervals for the effervesenceto subside. Use the white 
liquor that results when it has become cool. After the skins 
have been running in the salt water for ten minutes, pour into 
the drum without stopping it, one-half of the alumina and soda 
liquor and drum the skins in it for three hours; then horse 
them up smoothly over night and the next day hang them up 
to dry. When they are dry, put the skins back into the drum 
with eight gallons of water and run the drum ten minutes ; then 
pour into the drum the rest of the alumina and soda liquor and 
drum the skins in it for three hours, more or less, depending 
upon how thick they are. Then let the skins drain on a horse 
until the next day when they should be hung up to dry. 



TJIE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 27 

Moisten and stake one or two skins to see how soft they are. 
For some purposes they will be found to be soft enough ; but 
if softer skins are wanted dampen them with water and fat- 
hquor them with sulphated oil or acid fat-liquor as it is called, 
made of castor oil and acid. This material makes the skins 
very soft without discoloring them. It must be made with 
great care and attention or bought ready made. It dissolves 
readily in warm water and quickly penetrates into the skins. 
One hundred pounds of dry skins should be given from four to 
seven pounds of the oil according to how soft the leather is 
wanted. Stir it into eight gallons of water at 95 degrees Fahr., 
put this into the drum with the dampened skins and run the 
drum thirty minutes; then let the skins drain over night. The 
next day set the skins out on the grain and oil off with French 
chalk, two parts of glycerine and four parts of water. Apply 
this mixture to the grain, then hang the skins up to dry. 

When the skins are dry, let them lay in the crust or dry con- 
dition ten days before staking them. After staking, tack the 
skins on boards. If they do not appear to be fully tanned or 
if they are not soft enough, they can be moistened and retanned 
or given more of the fat-liquor as they seem to require. Sheep- 
skins, however, will be found well tanned and very soft after 
the last staking and not in need of retanning or refatliquoring. 

Tanning with Alum and Salt. — For this process the pickle 
in the skins must be removed before tanning. Take the pickled 
skins and wring or press them very thoroughly to remove the 
animal grease ; then wash them in warm salt water to soften 
them and to free them from surface grease. The acid pickle is 
removed with a bath of whiting and salt. For ten dozen 
medium-sized skins use twenty-four quarts of salt and four 
pounds of whiting in water at 90 degrees Fahr. Drum the 
skins in this bath twenty minutes, then let them remain in the 
bath without drumming for about an hour, after which let them 
drain an hour or two. Then throw the skins into a light, sour 
bran, drench for half an hour, adding sufficient salt to keep 
them from swelling ; then wash them in clean salt water until 



128 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

every trace of whiting and bran is washed away. Use plenty^ 
of salt in the wash baths to keep the skins from sweUing. Pre- 
caution must be taken to wash all the whiting from the skins, 
or they will be harsh and brittle after tanning. After draining 
twelve hours, the skins are ready to be tanned. 

A tanning solution is prepared as follows : For every hundred 
pounds of skins, nine pounds of alum and four pounds of salt 
are dissolved in five gallons of hot water. Thirty pounds of 
wheat flour are made into a paste with cold water and then 
mixed with the alum and salt, and enough water is added to 
make fourteen gallons of material ready for use. This mixture 
is heated to 90 degrees Fahr., put into a drum with the skins, 
and the drum is run for one hour, or until the skins have 
absorbed the tanning material. The skins are now removed 
from the drum and hung up to dry. 

When dry the skins should lie in the crust some time before 
they are finished. Then when they are to be finished, dampen 
and stake them. If they are soft enough for the purpose for 
which they are to be used, the skins, after staking, can be 
tacked out flat on boards and dried, and are then ready for use. 
If softer skins are wanted, dampen them and drum them in a 
warm solution of sulphated oil, made by dissolving four or five 
pounds of the oil in ten gallons of warm water for every hun- 
dred pounds of dry skins. Drum the skins in this solution 
thirty minutes ; then set them out, apply a coat of glycerine, 
chalk and water to the grain and hang the skins up to dry. 
Dampening and staking complete the process. The finished 
skins should be perfectly white and soft and free from grease. 

Another way to tan with alum and salt is to use from a 
pound to a pound and a half of alum and twelve ounces of salt 
for each dozen skins. Dissolve alum and salt together, making^ 
a pail of liquor, and drum the skins in this for thirty minutes; 
then add one pail of flour for each ten dozen skins ; run the 
drum a half hour longer, then dry and finish the skins as. 
described in the preceding paragraph. 

Egg yolk can be used to impart softness to the skins. One 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 29 

.quart of fresh yolks is sufficient for ten dozen small skins. It 
is put into the drum with the flour; or the tanning mixture 
can be made of alum, salt, flour and egg yolk, the skins 
drummed in it, then dried and finished. 

White lamb and sheep skins should be buffed on the flesh 
by the use of an emery wheel to get rid of all loose flesh and 
make the skins soft and smooth. 

Skins tanned with alum and salt alone are not as white, 
neither are they as soft and plump as skins on which flour has 
been used in connection with the salt and alum. Skins which 
have received flour stake out easily, the grain does not crack 
the flesh, when buffed, is white and smooth and the leather is 
soft and full. The cost of tanning is of course increased by 
using flour but the better quality of the tanned skins is sufficient 
to offset the extra expense. 

Another Good Process. — Sheep and lamb skins that have had 
the acid pickle removed can be tanned in the following man- 
ner: For every hundred pounds of skins three pounds of sul- 
phate of alumina and six pounds of salt are dissolved in six 
gallons of water. This liquid is put into the drum with the 
skins and the skins are drummed in it for thirty minutes. 
Then a second solution is prepared, consisting of ten pounds 
of hyposulphite of soda dissolved in five gallons of warm 
water. This solution is poured into the drum and the skins 
are drummed in the combined alumina and soda solutions for 
twenty minutes. The hyposulphite of soda fixes the tannage 
upon the skin fibers, making it permanent; it however also 
thins the skins. In order to overcome the thinning of the skins, 
another solution of sulphate of alumina and salt is added. This 
consists of two pounds of alumina and four pounds of salt dis- 
solved in three gallons of water, and it is added to the con- 
tents of the drum, and the drumming is then continued for 
thirty or or forty minutes or until the skins have acquired the 
desired degree of plumpness. 

The skins are then taken from the drum and rinsed off by 
a single dipping of them separately in clean water; they are 



I30 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

then horsed up for several hours to drain. Thoroughly tawed 
skins are produced by this process ; they are insoluble in cold 
water and even in warm water, and make leather of good 
quality and fine grain. 

After the skins have dried, they may be made softer by 
drumming them in a warm solution of sulphated oil, then dry- 
ing and staking them. Although flour does not enter into this 
process as described, it may be used if considered necessary; 
but the skins tanned without it work out into nice soft leather, 
especially when they are treated with sulphated oil. The 
skins can also be dampened and staked and then retanned in 
a chrome process. When sulphated oil has been used, no fat- 
liquor is required. The skins can, however, be tanned in this 
process, dried, wet back, and retanned in a chrome process, and 
then colored and fat-liquored, or drummed in flour and fat- 
liquored, and made into white chrome leather. To wet the 
skins and retan them in a chrome process and then to bleach 
them with borax and sulphuric acid is another way to make 
white chrome leather. If no sulphated oil was used in the 
preliminary process, it may be applied to the skins after they 
are chrome-tanned. 

White Chrome -Tanned Sheep Leather. 

For some purposes, such as baseball covers, suspender 
trimmings, linings and trimmings, a soft white leather is wanted. 
Formerly the alum process was used to make such leather, but 
nowadays the skins are tanned in a chrome process and made 
white by bleaching and treatment with flour after they are 
tanned. If it is desired to tan sheepskins for white chrome 
leather the following instructions will be found of service. 

Sheep and lamb skins are always pickled with sulphuric acid 
and salt before they are tanned, and in the case of white leather 
this pickling process is of help and importance since it bleaches 
the skins and makes them whiter than they would be were they 
not pickled. The grease must be pressed or wrung out as 
much as possible before tanning is begun or the leather will 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 13I 

not be white but a dirty yellow. It is suggested that the skins 
be taken in pickled condition and dried out and then degreased 
with naphtha. After this has been done hang them up until 
the naphtha has evaporated, then put them into a drum with 
a warm solution of salt, and run them a few minutes to wet and 
soften them for the chrome liquor. 

For each hundred pounds of skins to be tanned dissolve one 
pound of Glauber's salt in eight gallons of water. Place this 
solution in the drum with the skins and run the drum ten min- 
utes, then throw the skins back upon the pins of the drum and 
drain the solution off. The plug should then be replaced in 
the drum, and for each hundred pounds of skins put six pounds 
of common salt and eight gallons of water into the drum and 
process the skins five minutes. Next add to the contents of 
the drum the one-bath chrome liquor in portions of one-third of 
the quantity used at a time, and drum the skins for three or four 
hours or until they are struck through with the green liquor, 
three gallons of chrome liquor being used for each hundred 
pounds of skins. In a gallon of hot water dissolve a pound of 
bicarbonate of soda, add it to the contents of the drum and run 
the skins forty minutes. The tanning should now be complete 
but if any doubt exists in the mind of the tanner, the skins may 
be drummed an hour longer and left in the liquor over night, 
water being added to the tanning liquor to completely cover 
the skins. The next da}' remove the skins from the drum, 
place them smoothly over horses and let them press and drain 
for some hours, the longer the better ; they are then ready to be 
washed and bleached. For each hundred pounds of skins, 
original weight, use one pound of borax or bleaching soda dis- 
solved in hot water, say at 120 degrees Fahr., and wash the 
skins in this solution twenty minutes, then drain the water, 
replace the plug and put into the drum cold water to which 
some sulphuric acid has been added, and drum the leather in it 
thirty minutes. The borax opens and softens the skins and 
being alkaline prevents the acid from doing any injury. After 
the skins have been washed in the weak acid solution they 



132 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

should be washed in clean hot water, then pressed or struck 
out and shaved. 

The next process is treatment with flour. - Use about fifty 
pounds of flour to one hundred large skins or two hundred 
small ones. Stir the flour into ten or twelve gallons of water 
for one hundred pounds of skins and drum the skins in the 
liquor two hours, then strike them out or press them and give 
them some fat-liquor. For some purposes the skins work out 
soft enough without fat-liquor but if very soft leather is wanted 
a little fat-liquor should be used. Nice white skins can be 
obtained by omitting the borax and acid treatment, simply 
washing the skins and giving them the flour treatment, but it 
is the writer's opinion that the whitest skins result when both 
treatments are used. 

Sulphated oil dissolved in warm water is an excellent fat- 
liquor for these skins. Another consists of soap, oil and egg 
yolk, and, for a common quality of skin, a soap solution alone 
makes the skins soft without discoloring them. For very soft 
and full skins the following fat-liquor is recommended : For 
each dozen medium-size skins use one pint egg yolk, one pint 
flour, one-half pint olive oil, four ounces Castile or Ivory soap, 
eight gallons of water. Boil the soap until it is dissolved, add 
the oil, and boil the mixture fifteen minutes, cool the liquor to 
75 degrees Fahr. and add the egg yolks. Make the flour into 
a paste with water and stir it into the fat-liquor. Press the 
water out of the skins, give them the fat-liquor, drumming them 
in it forty minutes, then strike them out and hang them up to 
dry. The grain may be oiled with French chalk, two parts of 
glycerine and four parts of water, or the skins may be dried 
without the grain being so treated. 

When tbe skins are dry, dip them into clean hot water and 
place them in piles in a clean place, cover them up and let 
them become soft and workable, next stake them and then run 
them in a dry clean drum with powdered chalk or soapstone 
for one hour or longer. Finally arm-stake the skins and they 
are then finished. When the work has been properly done the 
skins work out very soft, full and white. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 33 

Four pounds of sulphated oil dissolved in twelve gallons of 
water at a temperature of 125 degrees Fahr. will fat-liquor one 
hundred pounds of skins. Drum the skins in the oil thirty 
minutes, then rinse them in warm water, strike them out and 
dry them as directed above. 

Chrome-tanned skins in the natural greenish-blue color of 
the process are used for lining purposes. The process of fin- 
ishing such skins is very simple. They are washed, shaved 
and fat-liquored. Any fat-liquor that is suitable for sheepskins 
may be used. Unless the skins are wanted very soft the quan- 
tity of fat-liquor given them should be very small. After the 
skins have been fat-liquored, set them out hard and give the 
grain a coat of soapstone, water and glycerine. Mix a half-pint 
of glycerine into a gallon of water and then stir in enough 
soapstone to make the mixture about as thick as cream. Ap- 
ply this to the grain of each skin with a sponge and then dry 
the skins by tacking them out smoothly on boards. When 
they are dry dampen and stake them, then dry them again, 
roll or iron them, and they are finished. 

White Napa Leather. 
The process of tanning sheepskins into what is called Napa 
leather originated in Napa, Cal. It is more of a curing than a 
tanning process and may be called a soap and oil process. 
The leather it produces is possessed of considerable strength 
and softness and is used for purposes where inexpensive leather 
is required. Light-weight skins are used. For white leather 
skins having damaged grains are finished upon the flesh. The 
original process of making this leather consisted of removing 
the wool by sweating the pelts and then treating the skins to 
the tanning or curing process. No lime was used and the 
skins were thus left fiat and with their strength unimpaired. 
Various modifications of the process have crept in, due to the 
changed processes of preparing the skins. At the present 
time the wool is removed with sulphide of sodium or another 
depilatory. The skins are given very little or no lime at all, 



134 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

but of course must be thoroughly washed before they are 
tanned. Pickled skins should be pressed to remove the grease 
and then drummed in warm salt water to get them in condition 
to be tanned. 

The original process was as follows : For two hundred skins^ 
twenty pounds of salt, thirty pounds of white rock potash and 
three hundred gallons of water constituted the first part of the 
process. The skins were left in the liquor for two or three 
hours, then wrung out as dry as possible and immersed in the 
second solution. This consisted of twelve pounds of hard soap, 
two gallons of neatsfoot oil and one hundred and fifty gallons 
of water. The skins were left in this liquor until it had pene- 
trated them ; then they were dried and passed through the 
process a second, and even a third, time as they seemed to re- 
quire. After the last drying,'the skins were washed in clean 
water to make them clean and soft, and were then dried and 
staked. 

Pickled skins are partly cured when received at the tannery ; 
and in some instances it suffices to merely neutralize the acid 
in them. For this purpose soda or borax and oil may be used. 
For white leather, the skins receive no further treatment, but 
are dried in a warm room and finished as quickly as possible. 

White Napa leather is finished upon the flesh as the grain is 
usually very imperfect. The dried skins are moistened and 
staked and, when they are dry and soft, they are buffed on an 
emery wheel and made clean and soft upon the flesh. This 
work requires considerable skill to get an even surface and not 
cut through the skin. When finished, the skins are soft, white 
and clean. 

White skins must be free from the grease natural to sheep- 
skins or they will be a dirty yellow when finished. 

Another way to treat the skins that produces results similar 
to the preceding process is as follows : For ten dozen sheep- 
skins of average size, a solution is prepared composed of two 
pounds of caustic soda and one pound of borax in sufficient 
water to cover the skins. The skins are drummed in this solu- 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 35 

tion for thirty minutes, then hung up and dried. They are 
next immersed in a liquor composed of five pounds of hard 
soap, one gallon of straits or neatsfoot oil, one-half pound of 
caustic soda and seventy-five pounds of water. In this solution 
the skins should remain until they have become thoroughly 
softened, after which they are put into a drum with a part of 
the second composition and run for about a half hour, then re- 
moved and dried as before. In many instances this treatment 
is sufficient. 

If the skins are not quite satisfactory after drying the second 
time, they may be soaked soft in the second liquor or run in 
drums and passed through the process a second time. Some 
skins require more treatment than others. 

After the skins have become leather, they are put into a weak 
solution of soap, oil and caustic soda in order to soften them, 
and when soft and moist they may be colored or dried without 
further treatment and worked into white leather. The leather 
is soft and tough, and it does not pull apart after being sewed. 

Tanning with Alum, Sumac and Oak Bark. — A soft, light- 
colored sheepskin that can be used in the natural color of the 
tan, or colored any desired shade, is desired for many purposes. 
A process consisting of alum, Glauber's salt, common salt, su- 
mac, oak bark, nutgalls and acid produces such leather. 

The pickle should be removed from the skins by drenching 
them with whiting and salt, then washing the skins in two baths 
of warm salt water. To make the tanning liquor, dissolve in 
five gallons of water, six pounds of alum, three pounds of 
Glauber's salt, four pounds of common salt. In another tub 
boil in five gallons of water, five pounds of ground sumac, three 
pounds of oak bark and one pound of ground nutgalls. Mix 
the two solutions, then strain while the mixture is hot and add 
to it four ounces of sulphuric acid. 

The liquor should be used lukewarm, and the skins should 
be drummed in it one hour, then allowed to drain twenty-four 
hours. Tanning can also be done in a paddle-vat, the liquor 
being used warm and the skins stirred about in it for two hours, 



136 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

then allowed to remain in it for several hours and then with- 
drawn and drained. 

After draining, the skins should be struck out on both sides 
and oiled with neatsfoot oil also on both sides, then hung up 
and dried. As the leather dries it should be worked continually, 
so that when it is dry it is also soft and well worked out. The 
skins tan cheaply and quickly, and when worked out can be 
colored any shade or left in the natural color of the tan. This 
leather is quite moisture-proof and durable. 

Sumac used alone makes leather that is nearly white. When 
tanned, the skins are dried, worked out and used in the color 
of the tan or colored with aniline dye. 

Coloring Black Napa Skins. 

Black Napa leather is generally colored blue on the flesh 
side. This may be done by the use of Direct Blue Paste, a 
paste specially prepared for the purpose. It produces a full, 
dark blue shade, and penetrates the skins from flesh to grain. 
This is the method of using it : For ten dozen skins direct from 
the press, two gallons of the blue paste are dissolved in ten 
gallons of water, and the skins are drummed in this liquor for 
three-quarters of an hour, then allowed to lie over night and 
are tanned the next day. A good blacking for this class of 
leather is made as follows: Five pounds of nitric acid, five 
pounds of muriatic acid and one pint of water. Enough 
wrought-iron chips are used to kill the acid, then seven pounds 
of copperas are dissolved in five gallons of water and added to 
the above. A good " sig " is made of forty gallons of water, 
twelve pounds of salts of tartar, five pounds of bichromate of 
potash and one quart of ammonia. These formulae are in 
practical use and giving good results. 

The skins, after becoming dry are moistened and then 
dampened down for staking. This is usuall}^ accomplished 
by dipping the skins in water and then letting them lie in piles 
until they become uniformly moistened. ' When in just the 
right condition, the skins are knee-staked for the purpose of 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 37 

softening them and to get rid of all stretch. After this work is 
completed, the skins are tacked or stretched upon boards in 
moist condition and left until thoroughly dry. When they are 
dry they are buffed on emery wheels. Upon the white Napas 
this is a very important part of the work. The buffing is done 
to remove the surplus flesh and to make the skins clean and 
smooth upon the flesh side. The black Napa leather is finished 
upon the grain in dull and glazed finishes. The dull finish is 
obtained by ironing the skins while they are slightly moist with 
seasoning, and for the glazed finish the skins are glazed upon 
machines. 

Coloring Alum-Tanned Leather. 

Alum leather may be colored with either wood or aniline 
dyes. The first are the most durable, but the latter are prettier 
and are more easily applied as they can be bought prepared in 
many shades, requiring only to be dissolved in warm water to 
be ready for use. A mordant is not necessary with the colors 
as the alum itself acts as a mordant and the color adheres 
readily to the alum-tanned fibers. 

When coloring, care must be taken to extract as little of the 
tanning material as possible and to apply the color carefully 
and economically. The dye may be applied to the grain side 
by means of a brush or sponge which leaves a white flesh and 
colored grain. Light skins that require thorough coloring and 
in which softness is required receive a so-called nourishment to 
make up for the tanning material lost while coloring, A suit- 
able mixture for this purpose is made of alum, salt, flour and 
■egg yolk which can be worked in mechanically or may be 
applied to the flesh side of the skins or the skins may be 
kneaded in the mixture. In place of this mixture, water and 
egg yolk may be used or a solution of sulphonated oil in warm 
•water. When considerable tanning material is removed before 
■coloring, alum and salt should be used in the mixture to replace 
the material lost. To obtain a fine, dry feel the washed leather 
may be drummed in a fatty mixture or in a mixture of fat and 



138 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

wheat flour. Sulphonated oil is good for this purpose. The- 
skins may also be treated with the materials named before they 
are colored. 

To wash the skins for coloring, they are drummed in luke- 
warm water until they are softened, and feel and look like raw 
stock ; they are then rinsed ofif and colored. For black skins 
logwood and striker are used. The skins are then given the 
retannage or nourishment and are dried and finished. Fine, 
light skins are generally wanted softer and in brighter colors, 
than heavy skins. 

Chamois Leather. 

Chamois leather at the present time is made almost ex- 
clusively from sheepskins. The leather is produced by the 
action of oil upon the raw skins, and is distinguished from all 
other classes of leather by remarkable softness and open tex- 
ture. In the making of this leather the wool is removed from 
the pelts in the usual way, the skins are then limed long and 
thoroughly in order to make them very soft and elastic. 
They are then split on a machine adapted to the work, the 
grain being tanned and finished into fancy leather, while the 
flesh side is oil-tanned into chamois leather. After splitting,, 
the fleshes receive a further liming in order to increase their 
softness and porosity. Old lime liquors, provided they are 
kept clean, produce the best results, as they make the fibers 
of the skins very soft and silky without the hardness that comes 
from the use of new, fresh limes. 

To remove the lime from the skins they are subjected to dif- 
ferent processes. In some instances the)' are bated with 
manure and then given a bran drench, which leaves them 
perfectly clean and very soft. Some manufacturers remove 
the lime by thorough washing and without subjecting the skins 
to a fermented bate at all. This method makes the leather 
more durable than when a bating process is used. It is very 
important that all the lime be gotten rid of before the skins 
are treated with oil. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 39 

Before the skins are tanned they are pressed in a hydrauHc 
press in order to get rid of all surplus water and to make 
them as dry as possible. They are then given a thorough 
beating in machinery especially constructed for the purpose, in 
order to soften them, after which they are sprinkled with cod- 
liver oil and again beaten in order to force the oil into the leather. 
The best grade of Newfoundland cod oil is considered most 
suitable for the purpose. The process of oiling the skins and 
beating them is repeated two or three times, or until they have 
lost their original smell of lime and have acquired a mustard 
color. After the oiling and beating process is completed the 
skins are made to undergo a process of heating. By this pro- 
cess the oxidation of the oil which commenced during the 
previous process is completed by the fermentation that results,, 
in the skins. The heat is generated spontaneously. The 
skins must be watched very closely and frequently turned 
over. When the heat rises to too high a temperature the leather 
is seriously damaged. The heat that is generated destroys all 
organic matter in the skins. The highest temperature allow- 
able is 140 degrees Fahr. This heating process is a most delicate 
operation, and upon its being properly done depends the suc- 
cess of preparing the leather. When insufficient heat is generated 
the leather rots, when too much heat is produced it becomes 
dissolved. When fermentation ceases, and the skins are no 
longer susceptible to heating, they are treated in order to 
remove the oil. This is done by washing them in hot water 
and then pressing under a hydraulic press. The grease that is 
squeezed out in this way is degras, an article largely used by 
tanners. The oil may also be removed by washing the skins 
in a solution of soda ash, which causes the grease remaining to 
saponify. This saponified oil is then neutralized with sul- 
phuric acid and forms the oil known as sod oil. A certain 
percentage of the oil should be allowed to remain in the skins 
so as to give them softness. 

The finishing processes consist of drying, staking and smooth- 
ing down all unevenness on the surface. The skins may be 



140 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

bleached by being sprinkled with water and exposed to the sun, 
or by treatment with a weak solution of permanganate of 
potash, followed by a treatment with diluted sulphuric acid, or 
the leather may be treated with sulphurous acid in the form of 
gas. Methods of treating the skins vary. In some instances 
the skins, instead of being laid in piles to ferment, are hung up 
in warm ovens, which is less dangerous and produces a better 
color. Very soft, tough leather having many of the character- 
istics of chamois leather is made from fleshers in chrome tan- 
ning. The skins may be tanned in the usual way and then 
very heavily fat-liquored with emulsions of oil, egg-yolk and 
soap, or of oil and degras. By first treating the fleshers to a 
tawing paste of alum, salt, flour and egg yolk, made up in the 
proportions of nine pounds of alum, four pounds of salt, twenty 
pounds of wheat flour, and twelve pounds of egg-yolk, for one 
hundred pounds of skins, and drumming the skins in this Hquor 
in a drum at a temperature of ninety degrees Fahi-. for twenty 
minutes, and then drying them out, and after lying in the dry 
state for some weeks working them soft, a very soft and elastic 
leather is produced. They may be finished up with no further 
treatment other than working and smoothing, or they may be 
subsequently tanned in a chrome process and then finished 
by passing the prepared skins (washed and pressed) through 
a twenty-five per cent. Turkey-red oil solution. After this 
they are dried and laid in a moderately warmed room in a heap 
and covered up. They are then hung up in the air and allowed 
to dry slowly, when they are again oiled in the same solution 
and again laid in a heap, again dried, and then w^ashed in a 
weak solution of alkali. 

By drying and working, the leather is made soft and com- 
pletely oil-tanned. The results may be variously modified by 
greater or less concentration of the oil solution, by higher tem- 
perature in drying and by more frequent applications or treat- 
ments with the oil. Combinations with the salts of alumina 
may also be employed here. The preferred method is as fol- 
lows : The prepared skins are steeped in a solution containing 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. I4I 

preferably fifteen per cent, of the soluble Turkey-red oil, they 
are then dried and the operation is repeated, after which the 
usual method of tanning is proceeded with. 

Coloring Chamois Skins. 

The coloring of chamois skins can be done successfully only 
in a drum, the tumbling and pounding being necessary to force 
the dye into the skins. Chamois skins can be dyed through 
the same shade by mordanting with chrome alum and then 
coloring with the alizarine or the acid and basic dyestuffs. A 
practical method of coloring the skins is carried out in the fol- 
lowing manner: The skins are first soaked for about half an 
hour in a one per cent, solution of soda crystals, the tempera- 
ture of the water being about 90 degrees Fahr., for the purpose 
of removing any oxidized oil that may be on the skins. When 
they are soaked and softened, the skins are washed very thor- 
oughly in warm water in a drum to remove the soda; they are 
then slicked out and are ready to be mordanted and dyed. 
The mordant consists of a one per cent, solution of chrome 
alum, used warm, and the skins are run in it in a drum for 
thirty minutes. The skins are then taken from the chrome 
alum solution and dyed without washing, or they may be 
thrown back upon the pins of the drum, the mordant solution 
drained off, and the dye-liquor put into the drum. The quan- 
tity of dye required for each dozen skins is about two ounces 
of the powder alizarine dyes and about ten ounces of the paste 
dyes. For every ounce of dye that is used two ounces of 
bisulphate of soda should be dissolved and added to the dye 
bath. The dye is dissolved in boiling water, and enough water 
is then added to make sufficient liquor to cover the skins, the 
bisulphate of soda being then added to the solution of dyestufif. 
The temperature of the d3'e bath should be about lOO degrees 
Fahr. The skins are drummed in the warm dj^e-liquor for one- 
half hour, or until they are dyed through ; they are then washed 
in warm water and dried out. When dry, the skins are damp- 
ened and worked soft. Before the skins are dyed they should 



142 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

be made as clean and smooth as possible, so that when colored 
little buffing will be necessary. 

Colored chamois leather is used in the manufacture of gloves, 
also as linings and for other purposes. If the skins have a uni- 
iorm shade throughout, they may be buffed on an emery wheel 
after they are dry and soft and improved in appearailce, but if 
they are not of the same color throughout, the buffing gives 
them a spotted appearance. Only sufficient buffing should be 
done after coloring to give the skins a nice nap. 

Chamois leather may also be colored by treating the skins 
with a solution of titanium salt previous to the application of 
the dye. The skins are soaked in a one per cent, solution of 
soda crystals in the manner that has been described ; they are 
then drummed in a solution of titanium salt (one per cent.), 
and are then dyed to shade without previous washing. 

Bleaching Chamois Skins. 

Chamois leather is bleached most satisfactorily by immersion 
first in a solution of permanganate of potash and then in a sul- 
phurous acid bath. 

Before the skins are bleached the excess of oil must be re- 
moved. For this purpose a bath is prepared consisting of two 
pounds of potash in twenty-five gallons of warm water; this 
is sufficient for one hundred and fifty skins. The temperature 
of the solution should be about 95 degrees Fahr. Six pounds 
of soda crystals may be used in place of the potash. The 
skins are drummed in this solution for from one to two hours, 
then the liquor is run off" and a new one prepared like the first ; 
this is run into the drum and the skins are drummed from one 
to two hours longer. They are then washed in lukewarm 
water, wrung out dry, staked, and then bleached. 

The solution of permanganate of potash is prepared by dis- 
solving one pound of permanganate in five pints of water. 
Enough of this solution is added to water in a suitable tub or 
vat to impart to the water a deep violet color. The bath is then 
warmed up to 105 degrees Fahr., and the skins are placed in it, 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 43 

•one at a time, and are then stirred about in the bath for twenty 
minutes, at the end of which time they will be found to be 
thoroughly impregnated with the permanganate solution. 
They are then taken out of the liquor, rinsed in cold water and 
next placed in another vat or tub containing a solution of sul- 
phurous acid. The vat should contain water into which gase- 
ous sulphurous acid is either conducted from a steel cylinder, 
or aqueous sulphurous acid is added until the brown color of 
the skins has disappeared and the skins are uniformly white. 
The skins are stirred about in the sulphurous acid bath for 
fifteen or twenty minutes or until they are white; they are then 
rinsed in cold water to remove the superfluous sulphurous acid 
and are then hung up to dry. A soap solution made by dis- 
solving a good quality of white castor oil or olive oil soap is 
applied to the skins by washing them in it, after which they are 
dried in the air, staked and pumiced. A wash of starch or pipe 
clay stirred into cold water is also sometimes used as a finish- 
ing process. 

Sulphurous acid may be prepared from sodium bisulphite 
and acid. Dissolve fourteen pounds of sodium bisulphite in 
fifteen gallons of water. Into another vessel containing two 
and one-half gallons of water pour six pounds of muriatic acid 
and mix it well throughout the water. The skins after treat- 
ment with permanganate of potash are placed in the solution 
of sodium bisulphite and the diluted acid is added slowly until 
the skins are bleached white through and through. They are 
then removed from the liquor, thoroughly washed, dried and 
finished. 

Sheepskin Fleshers. 

When sheepskins are split out of lime the grains are tanned 
in bark, sumac and other tans, and finished into skivers ; the 
splits or flesh portions are made into chamois leather and used 
for linings, gloves, and other well-known purposes. In addi- 
tion to chamois skins, the splits of sheepskins can be tanned in 
numerous other ways and used for various purposes where in- 



144 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

expensive material is required. A number of tanning pro- 
cesses for these goods will be described. 

Tanning with Basic Alnmina Liquor. — After the skins are 
split, the fleshers are drenched with lactic acid and pickled in 
the same manner as unsplit skins; they are then tanned. For 
white fleshers the following process will be found quite satis- 
factory : Weigh the splits and put them into a drum with ten 
gallons of water in which one pound of Glauber's salt and three 
pounds of common salt have been dissolved, this solution being 
Used for one hundred pounds of pickled splits. Run the splits 
in this solution twenty minutes, then drain the liquor off The 
tanning solution should be prepared the day before it is used. 
Twelve pounds of sulphate of alumina are dissolved in ten 
gallons of boiling water. In a clean tub a solution of one and 
one-half pounds of bicarbonate of soda in a gallon of hot water 
is prepared. The soda solution is poured very slowly and with 
constant stirring into the alumina solution, the mixture being 
then set aside until the next day. 

After the skins have been drummed in the Glauber's and 
common salt solution and the liquor has been drained off, four 
pounds of salt and eight gallons of lukewarm water are put into 
the drum, and the skins are drummed fifteen minutes. Half of 
the alumina and soda liquor is then poured into the drum and 
the drum is run two or three hours. The skins are then placed 
over horses to drain until the next day, when they are hung up 
to dry. When they are dry they are put back into the drum 
with eight gallons of water and drummed ten minutes. The 
rest of the alumina and soda solution is then poured into the 
drum, and after two or three hours' drumming the fleshers are 
fully tanned, and after draining twenty-four hours are hung 
up to dry. The goods after drying are kept in a dry condition 
or ten days or two weeks, and are then ready to be fat-liquored 
and finished. If they are soft enough for the purpose for which 
they are to be used no fat-liquor is necessary; but for very 
soft goods a fat-liquor of sulphonated oil may be used. From 
four to seven pounds of the soluble oil is used in eight gallons 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 45 

of water at 95 degrees Fahr. for one hundred pounds of dry 
skins. The goods are drummed in this solution one half-hour, 
then dried, dampened, staked and finished on a very fine emery 
wheel. The fat-liquor may also be added to the last portion 
of tan liquor, tanning and fat-liquoring being thus done at 
once ; this saves time. It is also beneficial to the goods to 
dampen the dry skins and mill them in flour or chalk before 
staking and finishing. 

Tanning with Alum, Salt, Egg-Yolk and Flour. — The pro- 
cess of tanning described for mocha castor glove leather may 
be applied to sheepskin splits with good results. The acid 
pickle should be first removed in a drench of sour bran and 
salt. Any shade of color can be applied to the goods as they 
absorb dye readily. Finishing on a fine emery wheel gives 
fine feel and softness to the skins. A tanning process of alum, 
egg yolk and flour in the following proportions also produces 
very soft and well tanned splits. For one hundred pounds of 
the splits a solution is prepared consisting of twelve gallons of 
water, nine pounds of alum, three pounds of salt and twenty 
pounds of flour, at a temperature of 90 degrees Fahr., in which 
the skins are drummed for one-fourth of an hour. Less flour 
may be used, and for common goods the quantity may be re- 
duced to five or six pounds. At the end of the fifteen minutes 
eight pounds of yolk of eggs dissolved in warm water are put 
into the drum, drumming being then continued for one hour. 
The skins are then hung up to dry. Finishing consists of 
staking and running on fine emery. 

In place of egg yolk sulphonated oil may be dissolved in 
warm water and given to the splits after they have been drum- 
ming in the alum, salt and flour. After the goods are taken 
from the drum they should be placed in a tub with the remain- 
ing liquor for two days before they are dried. And after they 
are dry they should be kept in a cool, dry room for two weeks 
before they are finished. 

Chrome-tanned Fleshers. — Sheepskin fleshers, drenched and 
pickled, may be tanned the same as flesh- finished and grain- 
10 



146 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

finished skeepskins; they can then be colored with ah'zarine or 
with aniline dyes or with natural dyestuffs according to the 
receipts given for unsplit sheepskins. Finishing on a fine 
emery wheel gives the goods a fine nap and soft feel; and a 
paste of flour and water added to the fat-liquor increases the 
fullness of the leather. 

A Process for Sheepskin Fleshers. 

To be used in the manufacture of gloves, for bindings, etc. 
The quantities of tanning materials mentioned are sufficient 
for two dozen fleshers of ordinary size. The fleshers are 
immersed, stirred about and pounded for about thirty min- 
utes in a fluid prepared as follows : One pound of alum is 
dissolved in one and one-half gallons of water, which is 
readily done by boiling. Then in another vessel are mixed 
one-half pound of flour and one-half pound of oatmeal, or 
one pound of either alone, with one gill of oil and one and 
one-half gallons of water, and this mixture is mixed with 
the alum solution. The tanning materials may be applied 
to the skins in a drum, and at the end of thirty minutes the 
skins are taken out of the drum. They are then immersed 
for thirty minutes, either in a vat, tub or drum, in a fluid 
mixture composed of one gill of ammonia, one-half of a bar 
of soap, one half ounce of soda, one-half pound, of salt and 
about two ounces of whiting or ochre, all boiled in one and 
a half gallons of water. To this solution is added either one 
pound of flour or one pound of oatmeal mixed in one and one- 
half gallons of water, and the fleshers are drummed in the mix- 
ture for thirty minutes, after which they are dried, worked soft, 
and finished upon either the grain or the flesh side. The skins 
dressed in this manner are very soft and pliable, with much 
elasticity and strength of fiber without roughness. 

After the skins have been treated to the first part of the 
process they may be dried, ."^taked and finished on either or 
both sides without being subjected to the second part of the 
process, and when this is done they are of very good quality 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 47 

and susceptible of taking a very nice finish. Yet it is prefer- 
able to use the entire process in dressing the skins, as they are 
thus given a superior quality and a capacity for a better finish 
than when only the first part is used, and when finished they 
bear a close resemblance to castor or mocha glove leather. 

In order to get the skins soft and elastic, and at the same 
time tough and strong, it is necessary that they be handled 
in such a way in the early processes of the beamhouse as to 
prevent any loss of substance or strength. The use of sulphide 
of sodium in removing the wool shortens the time consumed in 
the preparation of the skins and at the same time helps to make 
tough and soft leather. A liming of from six to eight days is 
generally sufficient for heavy skins, and after the liming is 
completed the drenching should be carefully done. The bran 
drench produces a very soft skin, as does also lactic acid, the 
latter article being very simple and safe to use. 

The drenching may be done in a drum, about three quarts of 
acid being used in one hundred gallons of warm water and the 
skins drummed or milled for not longer than thirty minutes. 

Vegetable-tanned Sheepskins. 

Hemlock Tannage. — Large quantities of sheepskins are tan- 
ned with hemlock bark and applied to various uses, such as 
linings, trimmings, pocket-books and sundry fancy leather pur- 
poses. Hemlock bark makes a good tannage for sheepskins. 
It fills and plumps them more than any other tanning material ; 
and the skins acquire a good color on which it is easy to apply 
aniline dye. Hemlock-tanned skins are finished in the natural 
color of the tan, they are dyed black when black leather is 
wanted, or colored and finished with a smooth or an embossed 
grain for fancy leather purposes. 

Pickled skins, before they are put into the tanning liquor, 
should be pressed to remove the natural grease from them. 
They then require to be drummed in warm salt water to soften 
and open them, and to separate them as they get stuck together 
while being pressed. The drumming must be thorough so 



148 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

that all spots become soft or the skins will not tan evenly. It 
is not necessary to remove the acid pickle but there should be 
considerable salt in the tan liquor to keep the skins from spoil- 
ing. Two and a half bushels of salt should be added to one 
thousand gallons of tan liquor. 

The most satisfactory way to tan the skins is by suspending 
them in the liquor, tacking them on wooden frames with gal- 
vanized iron or copper nails so as not to stain them. One 
nail on each butt shank is enough. Two skins on each side of 
the lathe, with the grain side out, are thus suspended. When 
the frames are to be filled, they are raised out of the liquor 
and when filled they are lowered by a windlass into the vat so 
that the skins are submerged. The tanner must be careful to 
avoid drawing the grain by using too strong liquors at first. If 
the liquor is too strong the grains of the skins will draw and 
crack after being dried out. The liquor for the fresh skins at 
the beginning of the process should not be over six to eight 
degrees strength. In this liquor the skins remain from one 
day until the next; they are then hoisted out by the wind- 
lass and carried along to the next liquor which should be some 
degrees stronger than the first one. The tanning is continued 
in this way, the skins going into stronger liquor each day until 
they are tanned, which is usually accomplished in from seven 
to ten days according to the thickness of the skins. After they 
are tanned, the skins are hung up and dried. When soft and 
light-colored skins are wanted, the hemlock bark should be 
rossed before it is ground to remove the gum and resinous 
matter that darken the liquor. Steam should not be used to 
leach the bark as it darkens the liquors ; and brass pipes are 
the only suitable ones to use for conveying the liquor to and 
from the leaches. For dark skins the bark need not be rossed 
as the dark color of the liquor is no detriment. However, to 
get firm, pliable skins of a good color only clean, light-colored 
bark liquors should be used. The skins can be tanned in pad- 
dle vats or in vats without paddles, but these methods do not 
produce as smooth grains as tanning by suspension. When. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 49 

tanned, the skins should be horsed up to drain well, then hung 
in the drying-room to dry. If the skins are to be left in the 
color of the tan, or if they are to be colored, it is best to dry 
them in a dark room away from sunlight, but for black leather 
a light grain is not necessary and such skins can be dried in 
the open air without injury. Freezing is beneficial to the tan- 
ned skins as it makes them softer and of finer texture. 

Oak liquors make nice skins for linings and book-binding 
and fancy leather purposes. A mixture of hemlock and oak 
bark liquors is a good combination to use, as it produces 
lighter colored skins than straight hemlock tan. A good 
tanning process consists of starting the skins in weak hemlock 
liquor and as soon as the grain is well set to pass them into a 
stronger liquor, composed of hemlock, oak wood extract and 
•quebracho, care being taken to handle the skins every day 
under this treatment. A very uniform color is maintained by 
this process ; and the skins are made tough, firm and pliable. 
Hemlock and quebracho extracts combined form a good tan 
for sheepskins. The liquors may be two-thirds quebracho and 
one-third hemlock. The skins tan in a few days. The leather 
is well filled, soft and of good texture, while the color is light 
■and uniform and more satisfactory than the color of hemlock 
leather after it is bleached. The tanned skins can be easily 
colored any shade by the use of aniline dyes. 

Quebracho Tannage. — Quebracho extract produces well 
tanned skins that are easily colored and finished. Either the 
solid or liquid extract may be used. A quantity of the extract 
is boiled up with water in a barrel and forms a stock solution 
from which the tan liquors are prepared and strengthened. 
The skins are suspended in the liquor in the same manner as 
in hemlock liquors. The first liquor should be about seven 
degrees strong, the next liquor a little stronger, and succeeding 
liquors still stronger until the skins are completely tanned. 
There must always be salt in the tan liquors or else the salt 
■contained in the skin from the pickle bath would be washed 
out and the acid remaining would burn the skins. 



150 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

When the skins are fully tanned, take them from the liquor 
and hang them up to dry. If the skins are to be very soft a 
fat-liquor is necessary. This may be given to the skins imme- 
diately after they are tanned or not until after they have been 
colored. It is usually considered best to fat-liquor after color- 
ing, although fat-liquoring after tanning and before drying-out 
also makes nice leather. 

Quebracho extract, alum and salt make a good tanning pro- 
cess. Take for the first bath seven hundred gallons of water 
in the paddle wheel or vat; add enough quebracho extract to 
make the strength four degrees barkometer. Then add ten 
pounds of alum and twenty-five pounds of salt while warm and 
plunge them until dissolved and mixed. Remove the acid 
from the skins by a drench of whiting and salt, or one of sour 
bran and salt, and put them into this liquor. The skins may 
be suspended in the liquor or a paddle vat may be used. Sus- 
pension is undoubtedly the best method. From twenty-four 
to forty-eight hours are required to strike the skins with the 
tan material. When they have assumed a light oak color and 
the grain is well set, the skins are ready for the second bath. 
This is made by preparing a six-degree quebracho liquor con- 
taining salt but no alum. After thirty-six hours, this liquor 
may be strengthened to ten degrees and the skins left in two 
days longer, which completes the tanning. The tanned skins 
should then be rinsed in warm water, struck out and dried, or 
lat-liquored and then dried. This process makes nice plump 
skins that can be dyed black, or colored with aniline dyes. 
Colored and embossed, the skins are fine leather for pocket 
books and bags, sweat bands for hats, and other special pur- 
poses. A combination of one-fourth palmetto extract and 
three-fourths quebracho produces plump and mellow skins. 
As both of th.ese extracts are rapid tanners, tanning can be 
completed in a short time. 

Combination Tannage. — For colored sheepskins, a tannage 
of gambler, salt, alum and sulphate of soda produces plump,, 
firm and smooth-grained leather. The acid used as a pickle 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 151 

should be removed before the skins are tanned. Use two 
pounds of bolted whiting and five pounds of salt in fifteen gal- 
lons of water at 90 degrees Fahr. for one huudred pounds of 
pickled skins. Run in drum one-half hour. Let stand one- 
half hour, then wash the skins in two baths of clean, warm salt 
water to remove all the whiting. Always use salt in the wash 
water to hold the skins from swelling. And every trace of 
whiting should be washed away or the tanned skins will be 
tender. After the skins have been washed, let them drain a 
few hours before tanning them. 

Tanning may be done in a drum or by suspension. If a 
drum is used, use six pounds of gambler, two pounds of salt, 
one and a quarter pounds of alum, one pound of sulphate of 
soda and one-half ounce picric acid for each dozen skins. Boil 
the gambier in a tub, the other materials in a pail or tub, and 
mix the two solutions and use at [OO degrees Fahr. Give the 
liquor to the skins in portions of a pailful at a time at intervals 
of five minutes to prevent a coarse, harsh skin. The skins 
should be drummed in the liquor from one to two hours, then 
placed over horses to drain until the next day. 

If the skins are tanned by the suspension method, add about 
half of the tanning materials to water in the vat and after a few 
hours add the rest, and keep the liquor stirred up until the 
skins are tanned. This method of tanning keeps the grain 
smooth and makes the skins firm and plump. The treatment 
that the skins are given after they are tanned depends upon 
how the skins are to be finished. If dry, colored skins are 
wanted, they are dried out after tanning, then washed and 
colored, dried again, worked out and finished. If soft leather 
is wanted, suitable for coats, gloves, bindings, etc., they should 
be fat-liquored the next day after tanning, blacked on the grain, 
dried, staked and finished. Or they can be dried after tanning, 
then moistened and colored, then fat-liquored and dried for 
finishing. Nice, dry skins are made by coloring after drying, 
then working out and finishing without using any fat-liquor at 
all. Palmetto extract tans sheepskins into nice soft leather 



152 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

that is easily colored. If a chrome combination tannage is 
wanted, the skins are tanned with one-bath chrome liquor, then 
shaved, retanned with gambler or palmetto, struck out, colored 
and finished. 

Sumac Tannage — Sumac makes soft, pliable, light- colored 
skins that are easily colored and finished into fancy leather. 
The tanning is done in vats, the skins are then dried and later 
on moistened and colored. 

Sheepskins tanned with any of the processes that have been 
described work out into soft, pliable leather without being fat- 
liquored, but if very soft skins are wanted they should be fat- 
liquored with an emulsion of oil and soap after they have been 
colored. Taken from the tan liquor, the skins are hung up 
and dried, then moistened and colored. 

SJieepskins for UpJiolstej'ing Purposes.- — An experienced prac- 
tical tanner gives the following receipt for tanning sheepskins 
into what is called Spanish Leather for furniture and automo- 
biles. Take the pickled skins and remove the pickle from 
them by drenching with whiting and salt in the manner that 
has been described for the combination process. After wash- 
ing out the whiting, the skins are in condition to be tanned. 

Take six pounds of alum, three pounds Glauber salts, four 
pounds of common salt, dissolve in ten gallons of soft water. 
Take also five pounds of ground sumac, three pounds of oak 
bark, one pound of nutgalls and four ounces of sulphuric acid. 
Add the sumac, oak bark and nutgalls ; boil twenty minutes, 
then strain while it is hot; then pour in the sulphuric acid and 
stir well. This quantity of liquor will tan one hundred pounds 
of skins. Use this liquor lukewarm. Drum the skins in it for 
one hour, then let them drain for twenty four hours. Then oil 
them with neatsfoot oil on both sides, and hang them in a 
warm room to dry. If smooth surfaces are required, the skins 
should be struck out hard on both sides before the oil is ap- 
plied ; and while they are drying, the skins should be worked 
continually until they are dry and soft. This leather will not 
absorb moisture ; it is used for automobile coats as well as 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 153 

furniture upholstering. Doubtless it could be used for other 
purposes also. When the skins are dry and soft, they can be 
colored. The prevailing shades are dark green, oxblood or 
wine color, tan and chocolate brown. 

Methods of Coloring Vegetable-tanned Sheepskins. 

Sheepskins that have been tanned with a vegetable tan, such 
as bark, sumac, quebracho, 'gambler and other similar tanning 
materials, are usually dried after tanning. When dry they are 
packed away and left until they are to be finished. The longer 
they are kept in the dry or crust condition the softer they are 
when finished. When the skins are to be colored, they require 
a moistening and softening in order to remove from them all 
the dirt, dust and particles of tannin that have not combined 
with the leather. At the same time washing serves to soften 
the skins and to put them in the right condition to be colored. 
Shavmg also is done to make the skins of even thickness. 

When the washing is properly done, the colors are made 
clear, full and deep. When dry skins are immersed in dye 
baths, many defects are noticed in the finished leather. The 
color cannot penetrate nor combine with the fibers and the re- 
sults of the coloring process are decidedly unsatisfactory. 
The dry skins may be moistened in a tub and left in piles for 
some hours to become uniformly moist and soft, or they may 
be moistened in a drum. The water used for this work should 
be soft and warm since such water has greater softening and 
cleansing powers than cold water. A safe temperature is from 
85 to 95 degrees Fahr. The amount of treatment necessary to 
bring the skins into the required condition depends upon the 
character and condition of the skins and how they were tanned. 
Very light and soft skins require very little treatment, but 
careful handling, while thick and fine skins must be given 
more thorough preparation. 

Before coloring is attempted, the skins should be sorted 
according to texture and weight. Those that are firm and 
thick should be colored separately from those that are soft and 



154 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

open grained. The clear and fine-grained skins should be 
dyed the lighter shades and those that are dark colored and 
streaked the darker shades, or dyed black. It is advisable to 
have a supply of skins tanned and dried ahead as they improve 
while lying in the dried condition. After the skins have been 
colored, they should be dried and finished as quickly as pos- 
sible. 

A good way to color the skins is to wash and soften them, 
then drum them in a warm sumac liquor. This serves to 
freshen up the skins so that they will readily receive the dye 
liquor. Usually about four ounces of extract of sumac dis- 
solved in warm water is sufficient for one dozen skins. In this 
liquor the skins are drummed twenty minutes. Then to clear 
the grain and to set the dye, two ounces of tartar emetic for 
each dozen skins, dissolved in hot water, is poured into the 
drum and the skins are run fifteen minutes longer. After this,, 
it is best to rinse the skins in warm water, drain the drum, and 
then put the skins back and color them. From two to four 
ounces of aniline are required by each dozen skins ; the tem- 
perature of the dye bath being about lOO degrees Fahr. In 
place of sumac, fustic may be used, if the skins require a mor- 
dant. Vegetable tanned skins do not require a mordant as the 
tannic acid in the tan serves as a mordant; but something to 
freshen up the leather and to make more uniform colors is 
necessary. 

Titanium potassium oxalate is a valuable material in leather 
coloring. The titanium unites with the tannin of the leather to 
form a yellowish-brown titanium tannate, which combines with 
the fiber of the leather and which is fast and stable and brings 
up subsequent colors in a remarkable way. The leather in 
addition to being mordanted is also given the yellow base 
necessary when all shades except lilac, gray and purple are 
wanted. After being treated with the titanium salts, the skins 
are ready to be colored any shade. Both acid and basic dyes 
color freely, evenly and rapidly on the yellow mordant base 
resulting from the use of titanium salts. The dry skins are 



THE MANUFACTURE .OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. I 55 

moistened and softened, then run in a solution of eight ounces 
of titanium potassium oxalate for every hundred pounds of dry 
leather. This may be done in a paddle vat or drum, preferably 
the latter. Drumming the skins in the solution of titanium 
salts for ten minutes gives the yellow base on which any shade 
of tan, brown, oxblood, etc., can be easily obtained. The 
shade of yellow-brown produced varies with the kind of tannin 
in th^ leather. Sumac gives the more yellowish shade. Young 
fustic with titanium salts gives a light tan. Gambler and red 
fustic with titanium salts produce a brownish tan. 

If acid dyes are to be used, the skins can be colored at the 
end of the ten minutes, without being washed ; but if basic dyes 
are lo be applied, after drumming in the titanium solution, the 
liquor should be run ofT, the skins washed and then run in the 
dye liquor until the right shade is obtained ; then they are 
washed again, fat-liquored or not, and hung up to dry. No 
tartar emetic or bichromate of potash is used with the titanium 
potassium oxalate. The colors produced by this method of 
coloring are faster to light, fuller in shade and with less ten- 
dency to "grinning" than those obtained by any other process 
of dyeing. The process is neither expensive nor complicated. 

Dyeing the Skins Black. — Excellent results are obtained by 
the use of logwood and titanium-potassium oxalate. Take the 
dry skins and soften them with warm water. Then drum them 
in logwood liquor, slightly alkaline, for twenty minutes. In 
the meantime dissolve ten ounces of titanium-potassium oxalate 
in hot water for every hundred pounds of dry skins. At the 
expiration of the twenty minutes, pour the titanium solution 
into the drum and drum the skins ten minutes longer; then 
wash them, fat-liquor, or not, as the skins require, and then 
finish them. No copperas, iron liquor or other striker is neces- 
sary. The titanium- potassium oxalate after logwood strikes a 
deep, permanent black. 

If the black is required to go deeper or right through the 
leather, drum the skins first in a solution of four or five ounces 
of titanium-potassium oxalate for one hundred pounds of dry 



.156 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

leather, then add the logwood liquor, and after the skins have 
been drumming fifteen or twenty minutes in the logwood, pour 
into the drum four or five ounces of titanium salts for each 
hundred pounds of dry leather; run the drum ten minutes; 
then take the skins out, wash and finish them. When titan- 
ium-potassium oxalate solution is used to develop the black, 
there is less tendency of the leather to spew. 

If soft, black leather is wanted, the following method of 
handling the skins may be followed : Take the skins out of the 
tanning liquor, wash and press them. Then fat-liquor them 
with oil and soap, and dry them out in the usual manner. When 
the skins are dry, soften them with warm water, run them in a 
solution of titanium-potassium oxalate as just described, then 
in logwood, and then in titanium solution to strike the black; 
then wash the skins, strike them out and dry them for finish- 
ing. The result will be soft, supple leather, dyed through flesh 
and grain and of a deep, permanent black. 

The skins can also, of course, be dyed with logwood and 
copperas, or bichromate of potash, or iron liquor. Logwood 
liquor is made by boiling five pounds of logwood crystals and 
one pound of sal soda in ten gallons of water until dissolved ; 
then run in enough water to make fifty gallons of liquor. A 
good " striker" is made of fifteen pounds of copperas and five 
pounds of blue vitriol to fifty gallons of water. 

The skins are drummed in the logwood liquor fifteen or 
twenty minutes, the requisite quantity of copperas solution is 
then poured into the drum and the skins are drummed fifteen 
minutes longer, washed and finished. A few ounces of fustic 
paste boiled with the logwood makes the black deeper and 
richer. 

The methods of dyeing the skins with logwood and titanium 
salts possess some advantages over dyeing with logwood and 
copperas, or iron liquor. A better black as to color and better 
also as to durability is obtained and the leather is more durable 
and less apt to spew. The logwood liquor should contain some 
iustic and sal soda if the best possible black is wanted. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 57 

Drumming the skins first in a solution of titanium-potassium 
oxalate, then running in good logwood liquor and drumming 
the skins fifteen minutes, then adding more titanium solution 
carries the color through the leather and produces a permanent 
jet black on the grain. Eight or ten ounces of titanium salts 
for one hundred pounds of dry leather are sufBcient. Half 
should be used for the preliminary drumming and the rest after 
the skins have taken up the logwood. Washing after dyeing 
is important and should never be omitted. 

For some purposes the skins work out sufficiently soft with- 
out being fat-liquored. If soft skins are required, the fat- 
liquoring can be done immediately after tanning or after the 
skins have been colored. 

Coloring with Aniline Dyes. — A few practical formulas are 
given that will enable the dyer to produce several of the shades 
that are in demand at the present time. 

No. I. Oxblood. — For one hundred pounds of dry skins use 
eight ounces of titanium-potassium oxalate. Soften the skins 
with warm water and drum them in the solution of titanium at 
95 degrees Fahr. for ten or fifteen minutes to get a suitable base 
for the dye. Run off the liquor and wash the skins ; then put 
them into the drum and give them the dye. Each dozen skins 
of average size requires about six ounces of amaranth 3-R and 
one-eighth of an ounce of malachite green. Boil these dyes in 
a gallon of water, then add one gallon of water and apply to 
the skins at 100 degrees Fahr. and run fifteen minutes. Then 
wash and fat-liquor the skins. 

No. 2. Oxblood. — Take ten dozen skins. Moisten with warm 
water, then run in drum with water at 90 degrees Fahr. to 
soften and wet them. Dissolve in hot water three pounds of 
tartar emetic ; pour the solution into the drum and run the 
drum fifteen minutes ; then drain the liquor ofif. To color, use 
four pounds of amaranth 3-R, given to the skins in four por- 
tions. After the first portion is in the drum, run the skins ten 
minutes, then add the remaining portions of dye at intervals of 
ten minutes. Then add to the contents of the drum a pound 



158 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

and a half of amaranth i-R and eight ounces of chocolate- 
brown O, and run the drum one-half hour. Drain the water 
out of the drum, run in the fat-liquor, then add ten ounces of 
bichromate of potash and drum the skins ten minutes longer, 
wash them and dry them for finishing. 

No. J. Oxblood. — The correct shade of oxblood can be ob- 
tained on vegetable-tanned skins in the following manner: For 
each 120 feet of dry leather, boil ten pounds of hypernic chips. 
Strain the liquor. Put the skins into the drum with water at 
90 degrees Fahr., add the hypernic solution by degrees while 
the drum is running, and drum the skins one-half hour. Dis- 
solve by boiling, seven ounces of amaranth 3-R in a gallon of 
water. Strain the solution through cheesecloth and cool it 
down to 1 10 degrees Fahr. by adding cold water. Divide this 
solution into three parts and apply to the skins at intervals of 
five minutes, running the drum fifteen minutes after the last of 
the dye is poured in. Take the skins out and dip them in a 
barrel of clean, warm water. Run off the waste dye-liquor and 
wash the drum out. Put clean, warm water sufficient to cover 
the skins into the drum with the skins. Dissolve three ounces 
of bichromate of potash in two gallons of hot water and apply 
to the skins while the drum is running, and run the drum fifteen 
minutes.. The temperature of the liquors should be about 100 
degrees Fahr. If the skins are to be fat-liquored, fat-liquor 
them immediately after coloring, then hang them up to dry. 

No. 4.. Brown. — For one hundred pounds of dry skins use 
eight ounces of titanium-potassium oxalate dissolved in warm 
water. Drum the skins in this solution ten minutes. Then 
drain the liquor out of the drum, rinse the skins in a barrel of 
warm water and put them back into the drum. Color with 
leather-brown F, using one ounce for each large skin and less 
for smaller skins. Run the skins in the dye one-half hour, 
wash and finish them. 

No. 5. Brown. — A nice shade of brown can be obtained in 
the following manner: Drum the skins in a solution of titanium 
salts for ten minutes, then drain the drum and add the color 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 59 

solution made of four ounces phosphine for leather, one-fourth 
ounce leather-green M and one-half ounce methyl violet 2 B. 
Run skins in the dye fifteen minutes, wash and finish them. 

No. 6. Red. — One dozen sheepskins tanned with hemlock or 
some other vegetable tan can be colored a dark red by using 
four ounces Fulling Red for leather. Drum the slcins in the 
dye liquor twenty minutes, then add one-half ounce bichromate 
of potash and run the drum ten minutes longer; then wash 
and finish the skins. 

Any shade of tan, green, yellow, brown, etc., can be easily 
obtained by using the proper aniline on skins prepared with 
titanium-potassium oxalate. Use eight ounces for one hun- 
dred pounds of dry skins. Dissolve it in warm water and drum 
the skins in the solution for ten minutes. If acid aniline is to 
be applied, simply drain the liquor out of the drum aqd put 
in the dye. Run the skins in the dye, then wash and finish 
them. 

If a basic dye is to be used, after drumming the skins in the 
solution of titanium-potassium oxalate, run off the liquor and 
wash the skins ; then color them. But if the titanium is all 
taken up by the skins it is not necessary to wash the leather 
before applying the dye as both basic and acid dyes color 
satisfactorily on the titanium mordant. If the dyer is in doubt 
as to whether he should wash his skins or not, he can always 
be on the safe side by rinsmg them ofT in a barrel of warm 
water before he gives them the aniline dye. It is always safe 
to prepare vegetable-tanned skins by drumming them in sumac 
liquor for half an hour, then striking them out by hand or 
machine. I he next process is running them in a solution of 
titanium-potassium oxalate as described ; then coloring, wash- 
ing and finishing. Sumac is always safe to use no matter what 
color is to be applied afterwards. Skins prepared with sumac 
and titanium salts take full, rich shades with aniline dyes. 
Tartar emetic is another good article to use in dyeing the skins. 
It is applied previous to the aniline to clear the grain and set 
the dye, the skins being afterward washed and colored. If 



l6o PRACTICAL TANNING. 

sumac is used to freshen up the leather, drum the skins in the 
sumac liquor, then pour into the drum a solution of two ounces 
of tartar emetic per dozen skins ; run the drum ten or fifteen 
minutes, then wash them, put them back into the drum and 
color them with aniline and, when they have been drummed in 
the dye twenty minutes, wash and finish them. 

Treatment for Dark, Greasy Skins. — Skins that are dark, 
greasy and dirty can be much improved by the use of borax 
and sulphuric acid previous to coloring. Put them into the 
drum with warm water containing considerable borax and wash 
them twenty minutes. Run off the borax bath and put into 
the drum warm water with sulphuric acid quite strong, and 
drum the skins in it ten minutes; then rinse them in clean 
water. Make a sumac bath strong and hot and add a little 
salt to it. Drum the skins in this bath thirty minutes, then 
rmse them in clear warm water and strike them out for coloring. 
Run them in warm titanium solution, then in the dye, rinse, and 
finish. 

Fat- Liquoring. — When very soft leather is wanted, it is 
necessary to fat-liquor the skins after they have been colored. 
The surplus water should be pressed out of the skins either by 
machine or by hand. Heat the drum with steam, drain out 
the condensed steam, and put the leather in. Run it in the 
closed drum a few minutes to warm it and open the pores of the 
skins. Next pour the fat-liquor through the gudgeon, about 
two gallons at a time at intervals of five minutes, until the fat- 
liquor is all in, then run the .skins in the liquor thirty minutes 
or until the skins have taken up the grease and nothing but 
water is left in the drum. Let the skins drain a few hours, 
then strike them out and hang up to dry. 

Whether or not sheep leather should be fat-liquored, and 
how much fat-liquor to use, depends upon the kind of leather 
that is being made and upon the degree of softness that is de- 
sired. If firm, dry leather is wanted, the skins can be finished 
without fat-liquor. If soft leather is desired, the skins must be 
fat-liquored, but not very heavily. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. l6l 

An excellent fat-liquor is made as follows : Put ten pounds 
of potash soap into a clean barrel with ten gallons of water, and 
boil and stir it until it is dissolved. Into four gallons of best 
neatsfoot oil stir four ounces of borax dissolved in a quart of 
boiling water, taking care to stir thoroughly to cut the oil. 
Put the oil into the soap solution and stir thoroughly. Then 
run in enough cold water to make fifty gallons of fat-liquor. 
The tanner can, if he desires it, add ten pounds of egg yolk to 
the oil and soap solution, but not until it has been cooled down 
to 75 degrees Fahr. with cold water. 

Seasonings for Colored Skins. — i. A glazed finish is obtained 
on russet and colored leather by using this dressing. Dissolve 
four ounces of blood albumen in a gallon of water over night. 
Cook four ounces of granulated gelatine in a gallon of water 
and let it cool. Mix half a pint of white varnish shellac with 
half a pint of ammonia. Mix the three solutions thoroughly 
together and add enough water to make three gallons. Apply 
to the skins with a sponge, and glaze when dry. For colored 
skins use a little less ammonia, and make the finish a week be- 
fore it is to be used, so that the ammonia will evaporate. 

For a plain, natural- finish give the skins two coats of finish 
and roll while wet, then hang them up to dry, and when they 
are dry give another coat of the dressing. 

2. Dissolve one-half ounce of bichromate of potash in a little 
hot water, and when the solution is cold add it to two gallons 
of egg albumen solution. Then add a quart of acetic acid and 
ten gallons of water. Strain and apply to the skins, and while 
the grain is damp iron or roll, and a good dull finish will be 
obtained. 

2. Boil flaxseed often and for a long time with a little water. 
Strain the solution before using it, and beat it up the same as 
white of egg. To a pail of water add one and a half pints of 
milk, the whites of two eggs well beaten and one-half pint flax- 
seed also well beaten up. This finish should be put on evenly 
and without streaks by means of a soft sponge or a sheepskin 
pad. When the seasoning has been put on, the skins are hung 
II 



1 62 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

up to dry and then rolled. Colorless seasonings for glazed or 
embossed leather can be bought ready for use. 

If embossed leather is wanted, the skins should be seasoned 
and then embossed by the use of an embossing machine. Im 
itation of seal, monkey, alligator and other skins are made in 
this way. When the skins have been properly tanned and col- 
ored, beautiful efTects are produced. There is a large demand 
for such leather, as it is used in the manufacture of pocket- 
books, hand-bags, belts, suspenders, and leather specialties and 
novelties. 

Finish for Embossed Sheepskins. — Sheepskins tanned in a 
vegetable process that are to be grained or embossed can be 
seasoned with this finish : Two ounces of caseine ; two ounces 
of O shellac ; one-half ounce ammonia ; one gallon of water. 
Boil all until dissolved, stirring continually. Let stand over 
night or until cold. Add one gallon of water and one-half 
ounce of glycerine, mixing all together. Apply with a sponge, 
giving an even coat, then dry. The skins are then ready for 
glassing on the machine. After glassing, they may be grained 
by arm board and embossed, which is the concluding process. 

Finish for Black Embossed SheepsMns. — A nice, lasting 
finish is obtained by using this dressing on skins that are to 
be printed, grained, pebbled or embossed. Put into two gal- 
lons of water eight ounces of extract of logwood, one ounce of 
bichromate of potash and two ounces of prussiate of potash, 
and boil until dissolved ; and when the solution is cool, strain 
it. To each gallon of the above solution add two quarts of beef 
blood. Blood albumen can be used in place of beef blood if 
desired. Give the skins an even coat of this dressing and let 
it dry. 

When the skins are ready to be printed or embossed, dampen 
the grain evenly so that it will take the impression without the 
grain being cut. Then print, emboss, grain or pebble accord- 
ing to the grain that is wanted. 

Embossed or printed leathers have commanded a steadily 
increasing attention on the part of tanners, with the result that 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 63 

to-day some wonderful reproductions are made on sheep 
leather. The first embossed leathers were produced with the 
ordinary pendulum machine, using a small six-inch steel roll, 
upon which the desired figure was cut or etched. By this un- 
satisfactory method results were achieved which were con- 
sidered truly wonderful until the advent of the later machines, 
consisting of two rolls arranged one above the other after the 
Tnanner of the every-day clothes-wringer. The lower roll was 
of rubber, while the upper, which was interchangeable, was of 
heavy steel, upon which was electrotyped from the genuine 
skin a pattern of seal, pig, alligator or lizard, as the case might 
be. The great advantage of this latter machine was its ability 
to print an entire sheepskin without showing any joints or laps, 
as was impossible with the method first in vogue, except in the 
printing of small figures. In both of these processes the skins 
could only be embossed while in a certain condition to properly 
receive the impression, after which they were thoroughly dried 
before finishing. 

Upon its introduction, this method was considered as near 
perfection as human ingenuity could devise, but it has since 
been succeeded by still more modern ideas. The latest 
machine consists of flat steel plates from sixteen to thirty 
inches square, electrotyped as were the heavy rolls, and used 
in a knuckle-jointed press built especially for the purpose, with 
rise and fall sufficient to allow the operators to feed in the skins 
and get the proper impression. Skins can be embossed by 
this method in a dry state, owing to the greater pressure that 
can be exerted in this manner, although a certain amount of 
heat is used to make the embossing easier and more permanent. 
Almost any variety of figure can be obtained, but the success- 
ful embosser of to-day is obliged to keep in touch with the 
-different fads which the public runs on, and which are apt to 
change with each varying season. 

Skivers. 
• A skiver is the grain side of a split sheepskin. In making 



1 64 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

this class of leather, sheepskins are split in the beamhouse, and 
the flesh or inner portion is made into glove or chamois leather, 
and the grain portion is tanned in sumac, bark, alum or some 
other tanning material and used in the manufacture of leather 
goods, such as pocket-books, belts and suspenders, as linings 
and trimmings. Skivers are also used in large quantities as 
hat or sweat bands. As the grains, as skivers are called after 
the skins are split, are of very light substance and possess very 
little strength of fiber, they must be handled very carefully 
during the processes of tanning, coloring and finishing. 

The splitting is done after the skins have been limed. On 
account of the fact that skivers are often finished in light colors, 
it is important that the liming, drenching and other processes 
are done in a very cleanly manner in order that the skins may 
be clean and free from shaded or spotted grain. After the 
splitting has been done, the grains are drenched to rid them of 
the lime and to put them into the right condition for pickling 
and tanning. 

A suitable drench is one made of warm water and lactic acid. 
It is best to make a new drench for each lot of grains. The 
quantity of acid used is one pint for every hundred pounds of 
grains. The water should be warmed to 95 degrees Fahr., the 
acid then added and stirred, and the grains put in. It does not 
take long to wash out the lime ; and the grains are then washed 
and pickled. They are also tanned without being pickled. 

An efficient drench for the limey grains is made of bran in 
the following manner : One-half of a barrel of bran is mixed 
with water into a thick mush. The barrel is then covered up 
and allowed to stand forty-eight hours until it has become 
thoroughly sour. The sour bran is then emptied into the tub 
or vat to be used and mixed with enough water to cover the 
skins. This quantity of bran is sufficient for six hundred 
grains. To the water and bran should be added three pints of 
sulphuric acid and three pecks of common salt; and the pre- 
pared drench should then be heated to ninety degrees Fahr. 
The grains are stirred about in this liquor only long enough to 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 10$ 

thoroughly cleanse them of the lime. For light colors it is 
best to wash them before pickling in order to still further 
cleanse them ; but in most cases this is not necessary as the 
skins are soft and clean and pickling serves to further bleach 
and cleanse them. Another method of using the bran drench 
is to allow the fermentation to take place while the grains are 
in the liquor. The same quantity of bran is used as when it is 
fermented in a barrel. About one-half of the bran is added to 
warm water in the paddle vat, and while it is being stirred, half 
of the skivers are put in ; then the balance of the bran is added 
and next the rest of the skivers. It takes some time for the 
bran to sour; and as it sours the grains rise to the surface of 
the drench. They need to be drenched until they are per- 
fectly soft and clean, after which they may be rinsed in warm 
water and pickled. 

A pickling liquor is made by adding two and one-half quarts 
of sulphuric acid and fifty pounds of salt to one hundred gal- 
lons of water. After the grains have been in this liquor thirty 
minutes, they can be kept a long time before tanning as the 
pickle preserves them from spoiling. When alum is used as a 
tanning agent, the grains can be tanned without being pickled. 

Skivers can be tanned with any material that is used in tan- 
ning sheepskins. Sumac is in common use. Bark tannages 
and alum and chrome processes are also used. Quermos ex- 
tract, quebracho and hemlock extracts also make good skiver 
stock. If white skivers are wanted alum may be used, or the 
chrome process followed by a bleaching bath. While they are 
being tanned, the skivers must be handled carefully to prevent 
tearing. By suspending them in the tan liquor all danger of 
tearing is prevented and a smoothly colored grain and uniform 
tannage are assured. 

For a common grade of skiver tanning may be done in hem- 
lock liquors. Very little tanning is necessary; getting the 
grains well struck through is all that is required. Sumac 
leaves or the extract of sumac may be used. The tanning does 
not take long, and when it is completed, the skins are rinsed 
off in water to remove surplus sumac and dried out. 



1 66 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

When alum and salt or a chrome process is used, the tanning' 
is done with most safety in a vat with paddles. The liquor 
strikes quickly through the grain and there is no danger of 
tearing. If white chrome skivers are wanted, take the tanned 
grains and put them into a hot bath of borax water for fifteen 
minutes, then put them into a bath of water and sulphuric 
acid, and next wash and dry them out. If colored chrome 
skivers are wanted, wash them from the tan liquor and put 
them into a bath of warm sumac liquor. A soft white skiver is 
obtained by taking the skins from the sumac bath and drying 
them out. The sumac also serves as a mordant for aniline 
coloring. Coloring may be done in a vat, in tubs or trays, or 
by brushing the dye on with brushes or sponges. In a tub or 
vat immerse the skins in sumac or fustic liquor, then add a 
solution of titannium-potassium oxalate and the grains will 
assume a yellowish or tan shade, which is a good and perma- 
nent color of itself but which also may be used as a base for 
any aniline color. 

Sumac-tanned skivers, after being dried, are moistened and 
colored. They are folded lengthwise through the center and 
dipped in the color solution until the shade is obtained. Add- 
ing a solution of titanium salts to warm water makes a bath 
that gives a yellow-brown base on which acid dyes give very 
nice results. Vegetable-tanned skins, being quite stifif when 
dry, must be moistened carefully and thoroughly before they 
are put into the dye liquor or have any dye liquor applied tO' 
them. 

Skivers are finished in various ways. They are glazed, fin- 
ished in dull, also glazed and then embossed, or printed into 
imitations of alligator, seal or pigskin. 

As good a process as any that the tanner can use is a mix- 
ture of quebracho and hemlock extracts made up of two-thirds 
quebracho and one-third hemlock. This tan produces a light 
color that is uniform and clear. The skivers can be colored any 
shade desired or bleached and finished in the color obtained 
by bleaching. For most purposes, however, skivers tanned with 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 6/ 

this tan require no bleaching as the color produced by the 
process is sufficiently light and uniform. Skivers are used 
mostly for linings ; and for this use they must be clean and 
dry and free from all trace of grease. When they are not de- 
greased before they are tanned, this must be done before they 
are finished or else they will not be satisfactory. 

Roller Leather. 

This leather is made from lambskins tanned with bark. It 
is used by cotton spinners all over the world. There are only 
a few tanners who have been successful in making this leather, 
and those who have, have had all the business they could at- 
tend to, finding a ready sale for their entire output. 

The qualities that roller leather must have to be satisfactory 
are level substance, clear and perfect grain that has no scratches, 
scars or cuts, smooth feel and pliability with a certain amount 
of firmness. Only the best skins should be selected. The leather 
must be perfectly smooth on the grain or the cotton thread 
when it is drawn between the rolls, one of which is covered 
with leather, will keep breaking. As a light color is essential, 
only clean, light-colored bark liquors can be used. The natural 
grease contained in the skins must be removed since the edges 
of the leather covering the rolls are cemented together before 
being slipped on to the roll, and if there is grease in the leather, 
the cement will not hold. 

The preliminary tanning is done in weak bark liquor. The 
skins are then pressed with a hydraulic press in layers between 
iron plates and sprinkled with sawdust to remove the grease. 
They are then taken apart and paddled in a weak liquor and 
drummed in warm salt water until all press-creases have dis- 
appeared. 

The skins are tanned by suspension since a smoother grain 
is produced in this manner than with the use of paddle wheels 
or vats. The liquor is composed of oak bark and extract of 
increasing strength in which the skins remain two or three 
weeks, when they are hung up and dried. When dried, they 



1 68 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

are stored away until they are to be finished. The longer the 
skins are kept in the dry condition the better they are when 
finished. 

When the skins are to be finished, they are sorted. Those 
that are not as perfect as they should be are finished into fancy 
leather for pocket-books and book-binding. The roller skins 
are then dampened and shaved. The shaving must be accurate 
so that the skins will be of even substance. However, the 
skins do not all have to be reduced to the same thickness as 
some of the roller manufacturers make three or four dififerent 
substances. 

After shaving, the skins are drummed in a sumac solution, 
and then they go back to the tan again to receive a stronger 
liquor. After being rinsed in water and drained, the skins are 
struck out on the flesh and tacked out to dry. When dry, they 
are taken off the boards and softened, then trimmed and 
seasoned with milk and albumen, dried and rolled, perched 
by hand, and next reseasoned and glazed. The finished 
skins are then marked with a frame on the flesh side and 
trimmed with a pair of shears. As every hair must be re- 
moved, the skins are wiped over with a cotton-wool pad to find 
remaining hairs, which are removed very skilfully so as not to 
break the grain. The skins are then ironed, sorted for sub- 
stance, and put into grades and sizes. The processes, of course, 
are not always followed exactly as outlined since those mak- 
ing this leather change them here and there in accordance 
with the best results obtainable. 

Oak bark makes better roller leather than hemlock, since it 
contains less filling matter and produces lighter-colored skins. 

Tanning Woolskins. 

Soaking, Washing and Scouring. — Sheepskins that are to be 
tanned with the wool on should be good, fresh skins. Old, 
stale skins should be avoided, as the wool is apt to slip, for 
which there is no remedy. The skins should be trimmed to 
remove the parts that are of no value, then fleshed and washed 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 69 

to remove blood and dirt. After the skins have been washed, 
which is best done in a wash-wheel supplied with running 
water, they should be run through the burring machine, which 
removes all the burrs, twigs and manure adhering to the wool- 

The next process is scouring, which is done for the purpose 
of making the wool as clean and white as possible before the 
skins are tanned. It is much easier to wash the wool clean 
before tanning than after, since the alum and salt and other 
tanning materials set the dirt and grease and render them 
more difficult of removal. 

Scouring is done by laying the skins on a sloping table, 
applying the scouring solution first to the flesh and then to 
the wool. The scouring liquor may be made of a strong solu- 
tion of soft soap, to which a little carbonate of ammonia is 
added ; or it may be a solution of soap, soda ash and salt made 
in the following manner: Add two buckets of soft soap to fifty 
gallons of water in a vat or tub, then put in one-half pail of 
soda ash, turn on steam and boil the solution until soap and 
alkali are dissolved ; then add one pailful of salt and enough 
water to make two hundred gallons of liquor. The salt helps 
to bleach the wool; it also counteracts the caustic action of the 
soda ash. 

The scouring liquor is first well worked into the skin with 
the hands or a brush, after which it is poured into, and worked 
thoroughly throughout, the wool. The skms are next placed 
in waste scouring liquor, rinsed in warm water, and then 
scoured again two or three times if they seem to require it. 
When they are as clean as they can be made, they are rinsed 
in water until they are free from soap, then wrung out or 
drained thoroughly, after which they are tanned. A hydro- 
extractor is useful for removing the water from the skins. 

Ta7i7iing. — The tanning may be done with a paste of alum, 
salt and oatmeal. Heat two gallons of water until it is near 
boiling point, and stir in powdered alum until the taste is very 
puckery. Add one-half as much salt as alum to the solution ; 
then stir in one pound of rolled oats or oatmeal, and boil the 



I/O PRACTICAL TANNING. 

mixture for a few minutes, and allow it to cool. This tanning 
paste makes the flesh nice and white. If yellow color is wanted 
add one pound of gambler to the paste, the gambler having 
been dissolved separately. The skins are spread on a table, 
flesh side up, and the paste is spread on evenly, a liberal coat 
being applied and care being taken to touch all parts alike and 
to keep the wool clean. The skins are then laid flesh to flesh, 
or folded half over the other half, and left until the next day. 
The paste should be applied every day until the skins are 
tanned. They should then be hung up to dry, and as they 
begin to dry should be worked with some kind of a staker 
until soft and dry. 

The wet skins can also be tanned by using a mixture of 
powdered sulphate of alumina and common salt, two parts of 
the former and two parts of the latter, or a mixture of pow- 
dered alum and salt. This dry mixture may be rubbed into 
the flesh side of the skins every day for several days, when the 
skins will be fully tanned. 

Another way to tan the skins is to dissolve eight ounces of 
sulphate of alumina and one pound of salt in a gallon of warm 
water, and applying several coats of the solution. 

A convenient way to tan the skins in any of these processes 
is to stretch them into frames and to apply the paste or dry 
powder to the flesh side. - 

The skins can also be tanned with a solution made as follows : 
Dissolve ten parts sulphate of alumina in a tub of boiHng 
water. In another vessel dissolve two parts washing soda. 
Add the latter solution slowly and with constant stirring to the 
former; set the solution aside to cool, and then apply it to the 
skins. 

Alum-tanned skins before drying should be given a solution 
of soap or stearine, which serves to fix the tannage so that it 
cannot be removed by washing. Tanning can also be done by 
immersing the skins in a solution of alum and salt, then drying 
them out. 

Flour is sometimes added to the tanning paste to make the 
skins softer and whiter. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. lyi 

After the skins are dry and soft it is advisable to rescour 
them. This should be done on a table in about the same 
manner as before tanning, a soap solution being used and the 
skins being then rinsed in water and either bleached or colored. 

Bleaching. — A permanent white can only be obtained by 
bleaching the skins with peroxide of hydrogen. The bleach- 
ing bath is prepared as follows : Enough sulphuric acid is 
added to water in a tub to make a one per cent, solution by 
weight, or ten pounds of acid to one hundred gallons of water. 
To this acid solution seven pounds of sodium peroxide are 
added, the solution being constantly stirred. The liquor is 
then tested with litmus-paper, and peroxide or acid is added 
as required until the solution is quite neutral. Four pounds of 
silicate of soda previously dissolved are then added. The skins 
are stirred about in this liquor for one hour, then they are 
taken out, passed through or scoured with a weak solution of 
sulphuric acid, washed, drained, retanned if necessary, de- 
greased, and dried. When dry, they are softened and run on 
an emery wheel to clean the flesh, and are then finished. Re- 
tanning is done by applying a solution of alum and salt to the 
flesh side. 

Bleaching may also be done with permanganate of potash 
and sulphurous acid. The skins are washed, and then placed 
in a solution of permanganate of potash, made by dissolvmg 
one and one-tenth pounds of the same in one hundred and 
twenty gallons of water heated to 95 degrees Fahr. The skins 
are stirred about in this solution until the wool is a good, rich 
brown. They are then removed and drained and then placed 
in a bath of bisulphite of soda, made up of one hundred and 
twenty gallons of warm water, seven and one-third quarts of 
bisulphite of soda, and six and five-eighths pounds of hydro- 
chloric acid. In this liquor they are worked until they are 
sufficiently bleached. The skins are then rinsed, dried, and 
finished. 

Degreasing. — Most of the grease in the skins may be re- 
moved by plastering the flesh side with a paste made of whit- 



172 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

ing and water. The skins are tacked out wet and the paste of 
whiting is applied. The skins are then placed in a warm room 
and dried. The grease is absorbed by the whiting. The plaster 
should be scraped off and another coat applied. The opera- 
tion is repeated two or three times until the paste dries clean 
and white. The flesh is then washed clean and a mixture of 
alum and salt applied to replace the tanning material removed 
by washing and degreasing. 

Some grease may be removed by brushing the skin with 
benzine or naphtha, then rinsing off with hot sumac liquor. 

Degreasing may be done with benzine in the following man- 
ner: Have a wooden tray about one foot deep, three feet wide 
and four feet long, with a rack about an inch thick to cover the 
bottom to keep the skins off the bottom of the tray. The 
leather only should lay in the benzine. The lid of the tray 
should be made to fit in a slot and filled with water to prevent 
the evaporation of the benzine. The skins are then dried and 
finished. 

Tanni7ig with Gambler. — To tan skins with the wool on with 
gambier, wash and scour them and then tan them with alum 
and salt, preferably by rubbing the powder into the flesh side, 
two applications being applied. The skins are then rinsed off 
and put into weak gambier liquor. The wool can be colored 
a light yellow by adding picric acid to the gambier liquor. 
One pound of picric acid in gambier liquor is enough for fifty 
average woolskins. The liquor should be rather weak at the 
start and strengthened until the skins are tanned through. It is 
said that alum-tanned skins can be colored a light yellow by 
immersing them in a solution of picric acid previous to tan- 
ning. After the skins are scoured and rinsed, put them into a 
solution of fifteen pails of warm water to which have been added 
four ounces of picric acid dissolved in half a pailful of water 
and one tumblerful of sulphuric acid. The skins should be 
moved backward and forward for fifteen minutes, then rinsed 
in water finally and tanned with alum and salt. 

Chrome-Tan7ied Woolskins. — Sheepskins with the wool on 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 73 

can be tanned by a chrome process by being first pickled with 
sulphuric acid and salt, and tanned with chrome liquor. 

The pickle is made by adding seventy-five pounds of salt 
and three quarts of sulphuric acid to one hundred gallons of 
water in a paddle vat. The skins, washed, fleshed and scoured, 
are put into this liquor and left in it a few hours or over 
night; they are next drained over a horse and then tanned 
with chrome liquor. Sufficient one-bath chrome liquor is added 
to water to make a three or four per cent, solution, that is,. 
three or four gallons of concentrated chrome liquor are added 
to one hundred gallons of water. The skins are put into the 
liquor and as they absorb the tan more chrome liquor should 
be added, and the skins left in the liquor until they are fully 
tanned. Four dozen medium-size shearlings is about the right 
number to put into one hundred gallons of liquor. 

A practical method of tanning is carried out as follows : A 
tanning bath is prepared by adding fifty pounds of salt and five 
gallons chrome tan liquor of 25 deg. Baume scale, to one hun- 
dred gallons of soft water. The pickled skins are put into the 
liquor and paddled for two or three hours ; then another por- 
tion of five gallons is added, and the skins are left in the liquor 
over night. The next day another portion of tan liquor is put 
in, and the skins are stirred about two or three times during the 
day and left in until the next day, when, if they are light skins,, 
they will be tanned ; heavy skins may remain in the liquor 
twenty-four hours longer. 

Twelve packs of skins can be tanned in the bath by adding 
twenty-five pounds of salt and fifteen gallons of liquor for each 
pack of skins. After four packs have been tanned one-half 
pound of carbonate of potash should be dissolved and added to 
the liquor to neutralize the free acid. After twelve packs of skins 
have been tanned the liquor should be thrown away and fresh 
liquor prepared. The pickle liquor also can be used for twelve 
packs of skins by adding fifty pounds of salt and two quarts of 
sulphuric acid for each pack. The tanned skins should be 
drained twenty-four hours, then washed in a wash wheel or 



174 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

drum with borax water for one-half hour and finally in clear 
water for fifteen minutes. In the first bath one pound of car- 
bonate of potash may be used for one dozen skins. The skins 
are then drained and colored, after which the flesh receives a 
coat of paste, and the skins are dried, and finished. 

If the skins are wanted white, they are bleached, given a coat 
of paste, dried, and finished. 

The paste is made by boiling three pounds of olive-oil soap 
in ten gallons of water, then adding one gallon of neatsfoot oil, 
boiling and stirring for several minutes. When the mixture 
has cooled to 90 degrees Fahr., enough flour is added to make 
a paste just thick enough to spread smoothly. A liberal coat 
of this is put onto the skins; they are then dried and finished. 

A paste of egg yolk, glycerine and flour is also suitable ; also 
any regular chrome fat-liquor. 

The flesh may be made perfectly smooth and clean by run- 
ning on an emery wheel. Tanning can also be done by first 
pickling the skins with alum and salt and then tanning them in 
the chrome bath. 

Coloring. — Woolskins and shearlings may be colored any 
shade of color by the use of either basic or acid aniline dyes. 
When basic dye is used it is advantageous to bleach the skins 
and then to immerse them in a bath of bleaching powder or 
chloride of lime made by dissolving eight ounces of the powder 
in ten gallons of water. In this solution, which is used cold, 
the skins are allowed to • remain over night ; they are then 
rinsed in a weak borax bath, and colored. 

If acid dye is to be applied the skins, upon coming from the 
bath of bleaching powder, should be passed through a solution 
of sulphuric acid before they are colored. One to two ounces 
of acid dye is required by each pair of skins, according to size, 
and an amount of sulphuric acid equal to about half the weight 
of the dyestufif is added to the dye bath, together with four 
times that quantity of Glauber's salt. In place of sulphuric 
acid, formic acid may be used. Alum-tanned skins, after being 
colored, should be washed, drained, retanned if necessary, 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 75 

passed through a soap and oil emulsion, dried, and finished. 
Skins that are to be colored with basic dye should be washed 
and passed through a solution of tanning material, say two 
ounces of sumac, hemlock, cutch or quebracho extract, dis- 
solved in water, immersing for half an hour, then washed and 
colored. One ounce of basic dye is generally sufificient for two 
skins. To the dye solution one-half ounce acetic acid and four 
ounces Glauber's salt should be added. The temperature of 
the dye bath should be from 100 to no degrees Fahr. Good, 
fast shades of color are also produced by immersing the skins 
in a bath of sumac, hemlock or quebracho for one-half hour, 
then immersing in a solution of titanium-potassium oxalate and 
then dyeing with basic dye. Two ounces of the tanning extract 
and one ounce of the titanium salt are sufficient for two skins. 
To get a slight gloss on the wool, the skins, after coloring with 
acid dye, should be passed through a weak solution of soap 
and oil, then dried and finished. Six gallons of stock soap and 
oil mixture is made by boiling six pounds of soap and eighteen 
pounds of oil, and made up to six gallons. . One-eighth of 
a pint of this mixture for two skins is added to ten gallons 
of hot water, and the skins, flesh to flesh, are passed through 
the bath, then hung up and dried, softened and finished. 

A good shade of tan is obtained by putting the skins, after 
washing from the tannage, into a sumac bath for one-half hour, 
two ounces of sumac being used for each pair of skins, next 
allowing the skins to drain, and then immersing them in a bath 
of titanium-potassium oxalate, one ounce for two skins. This 
produces a yellowish brown or tan color. Any shade of color 
can be obtained upon skins treated as described by using one 
ounce of basic dye, one-half ounce of acetic acid and four 
ounces of Glauber's salt for every two skins. If a gloss is not 
desired the treatment with soap and oil may be omitted, the 
skins being washed after coloring, dried and finished. 

Tajining with Alum, Salt and Hemlock Extract. — Skins 
tanned in this process and then scoured and passed through a 
weak solution of sulphuric acid are made a golden-brown color 



176 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

that is desirable for some purposes. The skins are soaked and 
scoured before tanning, the same as for alum tanning, special 
care being taken to get the wool clean. The tanning liquor is 
made of alum, salt and extract of hemlock bark. After the 
skins have been in this liquor four hours they are hauled out 
and put back so that all parts of each skin may be uniformly 
penetrated by the liquor. The liquor is quite weak at the start, 
and strengthened each day until the skins are tanned through. 
Some potash soap should be added to the stronger liquor to 
help turn the wool and give the skins a velvety feel. The skins 
should not be crowded in the vat but given plenty of room. 

After the skins are well tanned they should be drained and 
next oiled on the flesh with a good quality of mineral oil; 
applied warm, and then hung up to dry. 

When dry the skins are scoured with a solution of strong 
potash soap and white soda ash. The flesh is first washed ofif 
to make it clean, and to wet it so that it will stick to the table. 
The scouring suds are then thoroughly rubbed into the wool 
and washed out again, the operation being repeated at least 
twice and sometimes three times. This scouring darkens 
the wool. After it is dark enough and rinsed free from 
suds, a weak solution of sulphuric acid is thrown onto it 
and spread over the skin until all parts come into con- 
tact with it. The sulphuric acid liquor is made by adding 
enough acid to water to make the water taste sour. The 
acid solution changes the color of the wool to a light golden 
brown. The wool is now given a good blowing-out with water 
from hose and made as clean as possible, and the skins are next 
hung up to dry. When dry, they are dampened, arm crutched,, 
bufifed on the flesh side, and beaten out on the wool side until 
they are clean and soft and suitable for use. 

To wash woolskins before tanning, the use of borax is recom- 
mended in the soaks, as it makes the wool softer and cuts some 
of the grease out, and the scouring can then be done with soft 
soap and soda ash. It is much more difficult to remove grease 
and dirt after tanning than before, and the cleaner the skins are 



THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEEPSKIN LEATHER. 1 77 

before they are tanned the nicer they will look and feel when 
dried and finished. 

Dyeing Woolskins Black. — After the skins are tanned with 
alum and salt or with chrome liquor, the wool should be 
scoured with strong soapsuds so as to remove all the grease, 
then rinsed ofT so that no soap is left in it, the skins being 
then drained an hour or two. Dyeing may be done with 
logwood, fustic and bichromate of potash. The first bath may 
consist of one-half pound of bichromate of potash dissolved and 
added to ten gallons of water, the temperature of the bath be- 
ing about 100 degrees Fahr. The skins are doubled, flesh side 
in, and immersed in the solution ; then removed and drained. 
The second bath consists of strong logwood liquor to which 
some fustic extract and ammonia have been added. One and 
one-half pounds of logwood crystals, four ounces of extract of 
fustic and one pint of spirits of ammonia make ten gallons of 
good liquor. The temperature of this bath should be 120 de- 
grees Fahr., and the skins should remain in it until every part 
has been colored. They should then be drained and immersed 
in a stronger bath of bichromate of potash, say one pound of 
potash in ten gallons of water. After the skins have been 
passed through the liquor, they should be drained, and the 
wool should receive an application of kerosene oil, well rubbed 
in, after which the skins should drain an hour or two, and then 
be washed, dried and finished. The color should be a good 
black and permanent. 

The dyeing can also be done by putting the skins first into 
strong logwood and fustic liquor for a few hours, then trans- 
ferring them to a solution of bichromate of potash, after which, 
if a sufficiently intense black has not been obtained, they 
may be again placed in the first bath of logwood which has 
been strengthened, and then finished off in the bichromate of 
potash liquor, drained, washed and dried. 

Another process of dyeing woolskins black is as follows : 
For one dozen skins a bath is prepared of -eighty gallons of 
water, twenty pounds of logwood extract, three and one-half 
12 



178 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

pounds of fustic extract and two pounds of verdigris or copper 
acetate. This bath is heated to no degrees Fahr., and the 
skins are allowed to remain in it three or four hours, the tem- 
perature being maintained during the process. Two and one- 
half quarts of acetate of iron are then added to the bath, and 
the skins are left in the liquor and stirred about until they are 
•dyed black, which usually requires an immersion of thirty to 
forty hours. 

The skins, after cooling, are drained and allowed to oxidize 
at least twelve hours ; they are then washed in warm water and 
scoured with a solution of soft soap and carbonate of ammonia, 
then washed and drained, and retanned with alum and salt, and 
stretched in frames to dry. This treatment after dyeing is 
necessary if a jet black is to result. To obtain more gloss on 
the wool the skins are passed through a hot, dilute soap and 
oil solution, then dried and softened. 



SECTION THREE. 
The Manufacture of Calfskin Leathers. 

In tanning calfskins for upper leather, the beamhouse work 
is most important. During the process of soaking the skins 
are softened and the salt, blood and other objectionable 
material are removed from them. Clean skins going into the 
limes have much to do with clear-grained leather. And it is 
advisable to accomplish the results of soaking in as short a 
time as possible, and not to carry the soaking beyond a cer- 
tain point. The soaking of green-salted skins for chrome 
leather should be done in such a manner as to hold up the 
tellies and flanks. It is claimed by some experienced tanners 
that clean hard water is the best for soaking; others prefer 
soft water. Soaking for a long time results in loose, porous 
leather, lacking in fullness and plumpness, owing to the loss of 
gelatine which should remain in the skins. 

In order to accomplish clean and thorough soaking, the 
•salted skins should be soaked in clean, fresh water. When 
they are very dirty or heavily salted, a good practice is to soak 
them for a few hours in clean water, then to take them out of 
the vat, and after allowing them to drain until the dirty water 
is drained ofif, to again soak them in clean water. Ordinarily 
no change of water is required if clean water is used. The 
length of time that the skins should be soaked depends upon 
their condition and thickness ; and no arbitrary rule can be 
followed. As good a rule as any is to trim the skins and put 
them into clean cold water for twenty-four hours, next to wash 
them in a wash mill for fifteen minutes, and then to soak them 
again for twelve hours, and then to flesh them. It is beneficial 
to the softening of the skins to add a little dissolved sulphide 

(179) 



l80 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

of sodium to the water. One pound of the material may be 
used for each hundred gallons of water. The washing removes 
dirt and helps to open the skins. It is also good practice to 
flesh the skins after washing, and then to soak them for twelve 
hours or longer before liming them. 

Borax used in the soaks is beneficial to the skins. By its 
use the dirt and dried blood are dissolved and the grain is 
made soft and silky, allowing the lime liquor to readily attack 
the hair sheaths. From five to eight pounds should be added 
for each thousand gallons of water. While the salt used upon 
raw skins acts as a preservative, upon being dissolved in the 
water it has an injurious effect upon the skins, causing the 
leather to be soft and lacking in fullness, and, in the case of 
light-colored leather, to show a clouded and spotted grain. 
Washing and resoaking remove all the salt before the skins are 
put into the lime. 

Old, stale soaks, in which quantities of blood, dirt and salt 
have become dissolved, are unpleasant and dangerous to use. 
The decay which sets in old soaks sometimes affects the skins 
in such a manner as to impair their quality, although the con- 
dition is not always noticed at the time, and later no one can 
tell what caused it. It is not good practice to put a mixed lot 
of skins into the soaking process. In other words, the skins 
should be sorted, and only those of similar nature and size 
soaked together. This is a good rule to follow in all leather- 
making processes, the sorting before putting skins through a 
process assisting greatly in making uniform quality. The 
skins should be spread out and pushed under the water gently, 
and when washed and put back the skins that were at the 
bottom should be on top, and those that were on top should 
be at the bottom during resoaking. This gives the skins equal 
chances to absorb water and to be soaked uniformly. Trim- 
ming should be done before the skins are put into the water. 
Another good way to soak salted skins is to wash them for a 
few minutes, then to put them into the water for twenty-four 
hours, more or less, according to their thickness and condition. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. l8l 

Dry skins require more thorough soaking in order to get 
them sufficiently soft to go into the Hmes. Such skins, when 
•carefully tanned, make good leather, although the grain is 
more or less damaged by cracks and other imperfections. 
Sulphide of sodium should be added to the water in which 
such skins are softened to hasten the soaking and to freshen up 
the withered grain. For every hundred gallons of water use 
from four to six ounces of the sulphide ; and more can be used 
with good results. Dissolve the sulphide in hot water, then 
stir it into the water. Put the dry skins into the water and put 
boards on top to hold them under the water. When the skins 
have soaked forty-eight hours and have become pliable, take 
them out and drum them in a dry mill for a half-hour, then 
put them back into the water to soak twenty-four hours longer. 
If they are not perfectly soft at the end of this time, take them 
out, let them lay in piles over night, then put them into clean, 
fresh water for twenty- four hours. They are then ready to be 
trimmed and fleshed, and are then limed. It is not best to put 
the skins into the lime until they have become soft and clean 
and as near like fresh skins as it is possible to get them. Both 
green and dry skins should be drained after soaking to get rid 
of dirty water before they are limed. They must be kept from 
heating, as heat results in more or less injury to the skins, 
which no treatment can remedy or cure. 

While skins are being prepared for tanning into chrome 
leather, it is essential that their substance be kept intact so that 
the leather will be firm and plump. To soak the skins too 
long or to use too much lime and bate makes soft, thin and 
spongy leather. As there are little plumping and filling quali- 
ties in chrome processes it is imperative that loss of skin-sub- 
stance be guarded against, more so for this class of tanning 
than for any other. Of the various kinds of skins calfskins are 
the most difficult to tan. This is because they have not at- 
tained maturity and full strength of fiber. They require care- 
ful handling and are easily injured by carelessness or abuse. 
The details of the processes must be carefully carried out. 



I 82 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Most of the imperfections of finished calfskins are results of 
ignorance or mistreatment in some part of the work. To meet 
with success in the manufacture of calf leather requires skill, 
judgment and care, and these are acquired only by painstaking 
application and experience. 

Methods of Liming and Bating Calfskins. 

The following described liming processes can be depended 
upon to get the skins into the right condition for chrome 
tanning. 

Liming in Arsenic Limes.— To start with, use a new lime 
made by taking two pounds of lime for each hundred pounds of 
skins ; have the skins in this lime twenty-four hours. Second 
day haul the skins out, plunge the lime and put the skins back. 
Third day take the skins out and add two pounds of lime for 
each hundred pounds of skins, and put the latter back, spread- 
ing each skin out and pushing it down carefully. Fourth day 
haul the skins out, plunge up the lime, and put the skins back 
in again. On the fifth day increase the strength of the lime by 
adding three pounds of lime, well slaked, and one and a half 
pounds of red arsenic ; put the skins back into the liquor. On 
the sixth day simply haul the skins out, plunge up the lime 
and put them back. On the seventh day add three pounds of 
lime and one and a half pounds of red arsenic for each hundred 
pounds of skins, original weight, and warm the liquor with 
steam to 75 degrees Fahr. On the eighth day pull the skins 
out of the lime, warm the liquor to 75 degrees Fahr. and put 
the skins back. On the ninth day the hair should come off 
cleanly and easily. After the hair has been removed, wash the 
skins ten minutes in warm water, then reflesh them and work 
out all the fine hair. After this has been done, the skins should 
be washed in warm water and then bated. Red arsenic as used 
in this process keeps the grain from rising and the skins flat. 
It also produces fine grain on the leather that will glaze more 
brightly than leather treated with sulphide of sodium. The 
best way to prepare lime and arsenic is to weigh out the proper 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 1 83 

quantity of each, mix the two in a tub, add water and siake and 
dissolve both together. Better results are obtained when the 
two articles are mixed together than when they are dissolved 
separately, and by combining both in proper proportions the 
hair is loosened so that it can be removed easily, the grain is 
smooth and fine, and enough skin-substance is dissolved with- 
out being depleted too much to produce the necessary soft- 
ness. 

Place the limed skins in warm water containing eight pounds 
of borax to one thousand gallons of water, and the lime in the 
grain will be removed to some extent, the grain softened so 
that the fine hairs and scurf will come out readily when the 
skins are worked. Lime alone makes the grain rough and 
harsh. To place limed skins in cold water fixes the lime in the 
fibers and sets the short hairs so that they can be worked out 
only with considerable difficulty; therefore warm water con- 
taining borax is recommended. 

The following method of liming calfskins with lime and red 
arsenic produces soft, thoroughly limed skins. The quantities 
of lime and arsenic are for five hundred calfskins. 

The lime vat, preferably about six feet deep, is filled with 
about three feet of old but clean lime liquor, and to this are 
added two feet of cold water. About one hundred pounds of 
lime and five pounds of red arsenic are thoroughly slaked 
together in a tub with ten or twelve pails of hot water, two or 
three pails of cold water being then added, and the solution of 
lime and arsenic is poured into the lime vat. The skins are 
reeled out of the lime every day and drained for about one 
hour and then put back into the liquor again. On the third 
day seventy-five pounds of lime are slaked and added to the 
lime liquor, and the skins are put into the same. In from five 
to seven days the skins will be in condition to be unhaired. 

The strength of the lime should be about 3.5 degrees 
Twaddle in the beginning, and after it is strengthened on the 
third day it should be about 6 degrees Twaddle. The lime 
can be used again and again by being run down and strength- 
ened for each pack of skins in the manner described. 



184 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Preparing the Skins with Lime and Sulphide of Sodium. — 
For the first day's liming use three pounds of Hme and one 
pound and a half of sulphide of sodium for each hundred 
pounds of skins. Put the fleshed skins into this lime and leave 
them in it twenty-four hours. The next day haul the skins out 
and give them the same quantity of lime and sulphide. On 
the third day. haul the skins out, plunge the lime and put the 
skins back. On the fourth day, the lime should be warmed to 
80 degrees Fahr. and the skins put in again for twenty-four 
hours longer; then unhair them. A second pack of skins can 
be started in the old liquor and left in one day, then, on the 
second day run ofT the old liquor and make a new one, using 
six pounds of lime and three pounds of sulphide of sodium for 
one hundred pounds of skins. On the third and fourth days 
handle the skins as directed above. Starting skins in an 
old lime, then making a new and stronger one makes the hair 
come readily so that after unhairing has been done on a 
machine, the skins do not need to be worked for fine hair. 
After unhairing has been done, wash the skins for fifteen min- 
utes, then bate them. 

The old way of liming in vats or pits has been superseded 
by liming in paddle wheels. The skins need not be hauled out 
when the lime is to be strengthened if it is not convenient to do 
so ; the lime can be added while the paddle wheel is running. 
The paddles should not be run all the time. Ten minutes in 
the morning and again in the afternoon is all that is necessary. 
The methods employed by tanners in liming skins vary. 
Many tanners follow no exact rule but work according to judg- 
ment, depending upon it to tell them when the skins are limed 
enough. When old lime liquor is to be had, a good starting 
lime may be prepared by using two-thirds old liquor and one- 
third new, that is, if there are six hundred gallons in the vat 
four hundred gallons are old liquor and two hundred are new 
liquor, or simply fresh water. This may be strengthened every 
day by the addition of new lime and arsenic, or the skins, after 
being started in the old liquor may be put into stronger lime 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 1 85 

tintil they are sufficiently swollen to enable the workman to 
readily remove the hair. 

When preparing new lime liquor slake one hundred pounds 
of lime with twelve pails of hot water. Mix seven pounds of 
red arsenic into the lime before slaking it. Both materials 
should be completely dissolved before they are used. The 
quantities of lime and arsenic mentioned are enough for six 
hundred pounds of skins to start with. After the skins have 
been in the liquor one day they should be hauled out and the 
lime stirred up from the bottom of the vat. If the skins are 
allowed to drain before being put back into the lime, they will 
, take up the lime more readily. When paddle vats are used, 
hauling out is not necessary, but it is a good plan to keep the 
hme stirred up from the bottom of the vat. The lime should 
be strengthened each day with a little fresh lime until the hair 
becomes loosened ; and after the hair is loose the skins should 
lie in the liquor a day or two longer to further soften them and 
to make the hair come off easily. Liming may be accom- 
plished in six or seven days. When skins are left two days in 
an old weak liquor, five days in strong liquor is sufficient to 
finish the process although the thickness of the skins, time of 
the -year and the temperature and strength of the liquor must 
be taken into consideration. 

Liming is accomplished in less time in summer than in 
winter. The removal of the hair is done most expeditiously 
by machine, although hand-work is still employed to some 
extent. 

In this process lime and arsenic are used in much the same 
manner as in the first process described, but the quantities are 
a little difTerent. This is a good process for box or grained 
leather from the larger and heavier skins. 

In the first lime use two pounds of lime for each hundred 
pounds of skins, put the skins in and paddle them twice during 
the day. The next morning add two pounds of lime as on the 
first day, run the paddle twenty minutes during the d'ay ; and 
then on the third day pour two pounds of lime and one pound 



[86 ■ PRACTICAL TANNING. 

of red arsenic into the liquor. On the fourth and fifth days 
add two pounds of lime and one pound of arsenic for each 
hundred pounds of skins, warming the liquor to 80 degrees 
Fahr. on the fifth day. On the sixth day give the skins the 
same quantity of lime but no arsenic ; and run the paddle once 
or twice during the day. Unhair on the seventh day, then fine- 
hair by hand. Let the skins lie in warm borax water after un- 
hairing and before fine-hairing. The proper time to remove 
hair is when the grain has been softened a little in warm water 
and the skins are still full of lime. After the skins have been 
fine-haired, they should be washed for fifteen minutes to re- 
move part of the lime. The more they are washed the more 
lime is removed and the less bating is required. 

A new process of liming skins consists of the use of lime, red 
arsenic, sulphide of sodium and hyposulphite of soda. Al- 
though this process is generally used in goatshins there is no 
reason why it cannot be employed in preparing calfskins, as it 
makes very fine leather, soft, yet firm in the necks and flanks,, 
and having a beautiful grain that no other process can produce. 

Briefly stated, the process is as follows : The skins, after 
soaking and fleshing, are painted with a thin paste of lime and 
arsenic and unhaired after twenty-four hours. In a drum the 
skins are next treated with a solution of sulphide of sodium for 
twenty-four hours. Without washing, the skins are then 
placed in a paddle vat and subjected to the action of a solution 
of hyposulphite of soda for twenty-four hours. After the hypo- 
sulphite treatment, the skins are placed in a vat containing 
lime and arsenic liquor, where they remain from two to five 
days, after which they are washed, bated or drenched, and 
treated as skins are usually treated to prepare them for tanning 
into leather. This process is a patented one. Another pro- 
cess is as follows : 

Paint the skins with sulphide of sodium to remove the hair. 
Then put them into a solution of sulphide either in a drum or 
vat for twenty-four hours. After this lime the skins for four 
or five days in clean, fresh limes, then wash, bate and pickle 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 1 87 

them. Lime must always be used with sulphide of sodium, as 
the latter when used alone does not split up the fibers of the 
skins, and the leather does not carry fat-liquor as it should,^ 
and becomes hard after it has been finished awhile. 

It is always safe to lime skins more for one-bath chrome 
tanning than for the two-bath process, since the latter splits 
up the fibers of the skins, which one-bath liquors fail to do. 

The next step in the manufacture of calf leather is the pro- 
cess commonly called bating or drenching. By means of this 
process the skins are freed from the lime and sulphide used in 
the previous process, and are made clean and soft to receive the 
tanning materials. No lime should be left in the skins. Lime 
in skins becomes changed into sulphate of lime, which closes the 
pores of the skins and shrinks them, making the grain harsh and 
rough and the leather close and hard. Bating and drenching 
serve to remove not only the lime but whatever skin substance 
may have been dissolved by the lime. During this process, 
too, the skins lose their hard and swollen condition acquired 
during the liming process and become thin and soft and recep- 
tive to the tanning materials. Five practical and safe bating 
processes are described. 

Bating with Lactic Acid. — Weigh the washed skins. For 
each hundred pounds of skins use one pint of lactic acid. Run 
sufficient water into a paddle vat and heat to 95 degrees Fahr. 
Put the acid into the water and stir thoroughly, then throw in 
the skins. Run the paddle wheel for two or three hours, then 
take the skins out, wash and then pickle them. 

Bating with a Fermented Lactic Acid Bate. — This process 
consists of lactic acid and sour grape sugar. It is a simple pro- 
cess and is carried out in the following manner : Take one hun- 
dred pounds of grape sugar or glucose and stir them into thirty- 
five gallons of hot water in a clean barrel. Allow this to stand 
for two days in a warm temperature, when it will be completelv 
soured. Prepare a paddle vat with water at a temperature of 
95 degrees Fahr., and put into it two and one-half quarts of the 
sour sugar solution. For every hundred pounds of skins to be 



1 88 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

treated, take one pint of lactic acid and put about half of it 
into the prepared bate before throwing in the skins. When the 
skins are in, add the remainder of the lactic acid slowly. Run 
the skins in the bate from three to four hours, then take them 
out and wash them. The importance of this simple washing 
is too often overlooked and the necessity of it cannot be over- 
emphasized, if a good clear grain which will color evenly is 
desired. 

For the second pack of skins, the liquor should be run down 
about twelve inches in the paddle vat and the loss made up 
with fresh water. The temperature is brought up to 95 degrees 
Fahr., as for the first pack, two and a half quarts of the sour 
sugar solution are added, and one pint of lactic acid for every 
hundred pounds of skins exactly as described for the first pack. 
Continue in this way, running off" a little of the liquor after 
each pack, for six days, then run off all the liquor but retaining 
about a barrel full with which to mellow the new liquor, which 
is prepared with fresh water. 

It should be pointed out that the quantity of sour sugar solu- 
tion, namely, two and a half quarts per pack is based upon the 
volume of the liquor in the paddle wheel. The average 
capacity of a paddle wheel is between two thousand and 
twenty-five hundred pounds of skins. The fermentative action 
of the sugar is, however, so mild that a wide range in the 
weight of stock bated with two and a half quarts of the sour 
solution is permitted without any danger. 

This process and the one following have been tested by the 
writer and found to be perfectly satisfactory where full flanks, 
good break and fine even grain are desired, as they always are 
in calfskins, and these processes will be found the best that can 
be used. 

Fermentative Bating with Lactic Acid. — Prepare a paddle 
wheel with water at a temperature of 120 degrees Fahr., and 
put into it two pails full of dry bran, and allow it to stand over 
night. Next day bring the temperature up to 95 degrees 
Fahr., and take one pint of lactic acid, for every hundred 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 1 89 

pounds of skins and put about half of it into the bran liquor. 
When this has been done, stir or plunge the liquor, then throw- 
in the skins and afterwards slowly add the rest of the acid. 

Run the paddle wheel for three to four hours, then take out 
the skins and wash them in warm water. For the second lot 
of skins run the bate liquor down about twelve inches and make 
up the loss with fresh water, warming up to 95 degrees Fahr. 
as before ; do not use any more bran but take one pint of 
lactic acid for every hundred pounds of skins and proceed as de- 
scribed for the first lot. Continue in this way for six days, after 
which run ofif all the bate liquor and make up a fresh liquor 
with water at 120 degrees Fahr., and two pails of dry bran,, 
allowing the same to stand at least twelve hours and then pro- 
ceed in the manner described. This is a very good process for 
calfskins, and with a little practice very uniform results are 
obtained. As definite quantities of material are designated for 
each lot of skins it is an easy matter to use this process, and 
the results are sure to be satisfactory. 

Bating with Bran. — This is a reliable formula : Take a half 
barrel of bran, add enough water to make it mushy, then cover 
it up and let it stand for forty-eight hours to sour. When it is 
sour, empty it into a vat half filled with water. Add about one 
and a half quarts of sulphuric acid and three pecks of common 
salt, mix together, and heat to 95 degrees Fahr. This quantity 
of bating material is enough for three hundred and fifty to four 
hundred skins. Throw the skins into the vat and run the pad- 
dle for four or five hours, then wash them in warm water if for. 
black leather, or work them over the beam and then wash 
them, if for colored leather. This process produces soft and 
clean skins which can be easily pickled and tanned in any 
tanning process. 

Bating with Manure. — The use of the excrement of dogs 
and birds cannot be recommended as they are decidedly un- 
pleasant materials to handle and call for considerable care and 
judgment in their use ; nevertheless many tanners employ them,, 
claiming to get finer grained leather than by the use of any 



190 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

other process. A practical method of deliming calfskins with 
dung is here described. Chicken excrement is the material 
used. The manure should be put to soak in warm water for 
three or four days before it is to be used. One hundred aver- 
age skins require a bushel of the soaked manure. Put the 
material into the water in the paddle vat, stir thoroughly and 
heat to 85 degrees Fahr. Throw the skins into the liquor and 
run the paddles one hour, then at intervals of one hour run the 
paddle a half hour at a time until the skins are sulificiently 
bated. When the skins are " low " and soft and apparently 
free from lime, take them out of the liquor and wash them in 
warm water for five minutes and, after allowing to drain thirty 
minutes pickle them. 

Sometimes it is convenient to bate the skins during the night. 
Warm the liquor up to 85 degrees Fahr., and throw in the 
skins. Run the paddle one hour, then let the skins rest in the 
liquor during the night. In the morning warm the liquor up 
to 90 degrees Fahr., run the paddle wheel one hour ; the skins 
should then be ready to be taken out, washed and pickled. 
The man in charge of the work must use his judgment in de- 
termining how much bate to use and when the skins have been 
bated enough. As soon as they are bated they should be 
taken out, washed and pickled. The bate wheel should be so 
constructed that the liquor can be warmed while the skins are 
in it, by means of a steam pipe surrounded by a wooden box 
with holes in it ; and after the skins are in the vat should be 
covered with a door the full width of the vat so as to retain the 
heat. Manure should be strained before it is used to get rid 
of foreign matter that might scratch the grain of the skins. It 
is also wise to wash the bated skins in a weak lactic acid bath 
before rinsing and pickling them. Or the skins may be washed 
in warm water containing a little boracic acid to arrest putre- 
faction and to neutralize any lime remaining in the skins. 
Bating with manure and then washing as suggested makes the 
the skins very soft and clean and the grain smooth and mellow. 
Pigeon manure is considered the best bacterial bating material 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 191 

to use, but, owing to the limited supply, chicken manure is 
commonly used. Chicken manure to which some dog manure 
has been added is also used. The material should be gathered 
fresh and dried for future use. 

Of the processes of bating that have been described, the 
writer considers No. 2 and 3 the best, and the manure next. 
The former are clean and safe and not at all unpleasant to use. 
There are also manufactured bates on the market that the tan- 
ner can buy. They are said to produce the results of manure 
without its unpleasant features. 

Pickling. 

The next process to which the skins are subjected is pick- 
ling. This is done in a paddle vat. Sufificient water is run in 
and thirty-five pounds of salt for each hundred gallons of water 
are dissolved in it. Then for each hundred pounds of skins, 
weighed, after bating, washing and draining, ten pounds of salt 
and one and one-half pounds of sulphuric acid are added before 
the skins are put in. The paddle should be run while the skins 
are being thrown in and kept running for two hours, then the 
skins should be taken out and placed smoothly on horses and 
allowed to drain for twelve hours or longer before they are 
tanned. Pickled skins can be kept an indefinite length of 
time without moulding or spoiling. And pickling also opens 
up the pores of the skins and puts them into the right condition 
to be tanned at the same time bleaching and cleansing them. 

Pickling can be done in a drum by using one pound of sul- 
phuric acid and fifteen pounds of salt in fifteen gallons of water 
for one hundred pounds of skins. Run the skins in this solu- 
tion one hour, then place them smoothly over a horse to press 
and drain for twenty-four hours before tanning them. 

Process of Chrome Tanning. 

No. I. One-Bath. — For this process of chrome tanning, which 
is the safest and most economical one that can be used, the 
skins are weighed and thrown into a tanning drum. For every 



192 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

hundred pounds of skins use eight pounds of salt and ten gal- 
lons of water. Put the salt and water, either separately or in 
solution, into the drum with the skins, and run the drum ten 
minutes. While this is being done, dissolve eleven pounds of 
concentrated chrome tanning material in ten gallons of warm 
water ; and when the ten minutes are up, pour one-third of 
the solution into the drum with the salt water and skins and 
run the drum thirty minutes ; pour in another third of the 
liquor and drum the skins one hour; then add the rest of the 
liquor to the contents of the drum and run the drum four or 
five hours longer. Then dissolve one-half pound of bicarbonate 
of soda in a little water, pour this into the drum and run the 
drum an hour longer. Add enough water to the liquor in the 
drum to cover the skins and leave them in until the next morn- 
ing, then let them drain smoothly over horses for twenty-four 
hours, and finally wash them. 

No. 2. One- Bath with Sulphate of Alumina and Sal Soda. — 
For every hundred pounds of pickled skins dissolve by boiling 
in five gallons of water four pounds of sulphate of alumina; in 
another tub dissolve by boiling in five gallons of water four 
pounds of sal soda. When both solutions have been made^ 
pour the soda solution slowly and with constant stirring into the 
alumina solution, allowing intervals for the effervescence to sub- 
side. Add cold water to cool the resulting white liquor down 
to 80 degrees Fahr., or set it aside for several hours to cool. 
Throw the skins into the drum together with eight pounds of 
salt and five gallons of water for each hundred pounds of skins,. 
and run the drum ten minutes; then pour in the alumina-soda 
liquor and drum the skins forty minutes. One-bath chrome 
material is then poured into the drum and the skins are 
drummed in the combined liquors for four or five hours. Then 
for each hundred pounds of skms in the drum dissolve and add 
one-half of a pound of salts of tartar, and run the drum one-half 
hour. It is good practice to let the skins remain in the drum 
over night, adding water until the liquor completely covers 
them; then remove them from the drum, place them over 
horses to drain twenty- four hours, and finally wash them. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 1 93 

The process can also be used in this way: Drum the skins 
in salt water for ten minutes, then add the sulphate of alumina 
and salt, and at the end of forty minutes drumming, drain the 
liquor out of the drum, add a few pounds of salt and a few 
gallons of water and then the tanning liquor in portions of one- 
third at a time, running the drum until the skins are completely 
tanned. Fully tanned chrome leather will stand boiling. Cut 
a piece from one of the thickest skins, put it in water in a pail 
and turn on steam and boil it. If the leather curls it is not 
tanned. If it remains soft and flat it is tanned; and the skins 
can be washed and colored with the assurance that they are 
tanned. Soft water should always be used in one-bath chrome 
tanning. If the water is naturally hard, it should be softened 
before it is used. If the skins become warm in the drum it 
does no harm. Some tanners warm their liquor before using 
it but there is no special advaniage in doing it. 

No. J. Two-Bath Tanning. — If this system of tanning is to 
be used, proceed as follows: Weigh the pickled skins. For 
every hundred pounds of skins dissolve five pounds of salt in 
twelve gallons of water and drum the skins in the solution five 
minutes. The first or chrome bath consists of five pounds of 
bichromate of potash boiled until dissolved in four gallons of 
water ; to this solution add four pounds of muriatic acid, these 
quantities being for one hundred pounds of skins. Pour the 
liquor into the drum and run the drum from three to five 
hours, depending upon how thick the skins are. 

When the skins are a deep yellow color clear through, take 
them out of the drum and place them over horses to drain 
several hours. The workman who handles the skins must wear 
rubber gloves as the liquor is poisonous and will make the 
hands sore. 

The second bath should consist of eighteen pounds of hypo- 
sulphite of soda for every hundred pounds of skins, boiled in 
eight gallons of water until dissolved and cooled down by the 
addition of seven gallons of cold water. Into a pail nearly full 
of water, pour and stir six pounds of muriatic acid. Put the 
13 



194 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

skins into the drum with the solution of hyposulphite of soda, 
close the drum and start it. As soon as it is started, pour the 
acid solution through the gudgeon into the drum and run the 
skins in the liquor four hours after the acid was put in. The 
drum should never be stopped until the skins have been 
drummed in the liquor at least one hour, or the skins will be 
seriously injured. The funnel and pipe connected with the 
drum should be made of lead. 

In the second bath the color of the skins changes from yel- 
low to blue. Unless they are blue through the thickest part of 
the heaviest skin, they are not fully tanned and must be run 
longer in the liquor. When they are blue clear through they 
are tanned and should then be taken out of the drum, horsed 
up a few hours and then washed. 

Any one of these three processes can be depended upon to 
tan the skins satisfactorily. 

How TO Color Chrome tanned Calfskins. 

Chrome-tanned calfskins are easily colored any shade with 
aniline and alizarine dyes, provided they are properly prepared 
to receive the dye and the right materials and methods are 
used in the coloring operations. There are numerous methods 
used by leather dyers in their work. The methods and pro- 
cesses of course, vary according to the experiences that have 
taught each dyer the method that seems to be the best for his 
particular requirements. 

The common method of preparing this class of leather for 
the reception of aniline dyes is by the use of some vegetable 
tanning or coloring material which gives up tannin to serve as 
a mordant. Sumac, hemlock, palmetto, fustic, and peachwood 
extracts are the materials that give the best results; and they 
are therefore in common use. Gambler also is an excellent 
material with which to mordant chrome leather for aniline 
coloring. Alizarine dyes are applied directly to the skins, no 
mordant being necessary. Before any attempt at coloring the 
skins is made, however, it is very essential that they be thor- 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 1 95 

■oughly washed and neutralized in order to rid them of all acids 
and salts acquired during the process of tanning. This wash- 
ing must be very thorough. And after the skins have been 
washed, and before they are colored, it is necessary to shave 
them and make them of nearly uniform thickness, and smooth 
and clean upon the flesh side. During the time that the skins 
are being washed and shaved they must be kept from grease 
and stain which are readily taken up by them at this stage of 
the work and interfere with the subsequent coloring and finish- - 
ing. 

When the skins have drained over horses some hours after 
tanning, they are ready to be washed. The most common 
way to wash them is by using borax in the first water in which 
they are washed, then washing the borax away with clear 
water. A wash wheel supplied with running water, that has 
plugs to make it tight is used to wash the skins in. For the 
first washing use one pound of borax and fifteen gallons of 
Avarm water. Dissolve the borax in a pail of hot water and 
add it to the water. Put the skins and water into the wash 
wheel and wash the skins for thirty minutes ; then take out the 
plugs and turn on running water and wash the skins forty min- 
utes longer. The leather is then ready to be struck out or 
pressed and shaved. 

Very good results have been obtained by washing the skins 
with sodium phosphate. Use two and a half pounds of it for 
each hundred pounds of leather, with water at a temperature of 
80 degrees Fahr., and wash the leather thirty minutes ; then 
allow the liquor to run ofif, run in fresh water containing a little 
bicarbonate of soda and wash the leather twenty minutes. 
The skins should be free from all trace of acid and salt at the 
end of the washing process. Where a "twister" is available 
it should be used as it accomplishes more in a stated time than 
any other form of washing apparatus. 

When the skins are not full of acid simply washing them in 
hot water is sufficient. The temperature of the. water should 
be 120 degrees Fahr., and there should be two changes of 



ig6 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

water. Chrome leather will stand any amount of washing with- 
out detriment. 

It is always best to shave the skins before coloring them. 
After they are shaved, put them on a table in a well-lighted 
room and sort them. Only those with good, clear grain should 
be colored ; those having discolored and broken grain should 
be dyed black. 

Ganibier and Fustic Mordant. — For each hundred pounds of 
skins to be colored use : 

Gambier 2 pounds. 

Extract of Fustic i pound. 

Boil these materials in four gallons of water until they are 
dissolved ; then add eight gallons of water. Put the skins and 
liquor into the color drum and run the drum thirty or forty 
minutes ; then dissolve in hot water and pour into the drum 

Titanium Potassium Oxalate 4 ounces 

for each hundred pounds of skins, and run the drum ten min- 
utes longer. If the skins have taken up the mordant, the 
liquor can be run ofif and either basic or acid aniline dye solu- 
tion run in without washing the leather. If the liquor does not 
seem to be fully exhausted, it is advisable to run it off and 
wash the skins before applying a basic dye. For acid dyes 
washing is unnecessary. Titanium salts, used as directed in 
this and the following receipts, forms with the tannin an excel- 
lent yellow bottom on which all shades of brown, tan, oxblood, 
yellow, etc., can be obtained in a most satisfactory manner. 
At the end of the ten minutes, the liquor should be drained out 
of the drum, the drum started and the solution of dye poured 
in, the skins drummed at least twenty minutes, then rinsed off 
and fat-liquored. 

Gambier Mordant. — Use two and a half pounds of gambier 
for each hundred pounds of skins. Dissolve it by boiling in 
four or five gallons of water, then add enough cold water to 
make twelve gallons of liquor. Use the same as the gambier 
and fustic liquor. 

Quermos Extract Mordant. — For one hundred pounds of 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 1 9/ 

skins use two and a half pounds of this material, and enough 
water to make twelve gallons of liquor, and apply it to the skins 
in the same manner that gambier and fustic are applied. This 
is an excellent mordant for any shade of color. 

Sumac Mordant. — Use one pound of the extract of sumac 
for each dozen skins. Small skins can be mordanted with less 
sumac according to their size. The extract is mixed into 
water at a temperature of i lo degrees Fahr., and the skins are 
drummed in the liquor twenty minutes. A solution of titanium 
salts is then poured into the drum and the drum is run ten 
minutes longer, when the liquor is drained off and the aniline 
liquor run in. 

Palmetto Mordant. — Chrome-tanned calfskins may be pre- 
pared for aniline coloring by the use of palmetto extract. 
This material neutralizes any acid in the skins and makes the 
grain smooth and firm and in good condition to receive the 
dye. A practical method of using the extract is to apply it to 
the skins in a drum. The liquor may be made of one pint of 
the extract and a little glycerine for one hundred pounds of 
leather. The skins should be drummed in the liquor thirty 
minutes ; then to the liquor, without stopping the drum should 
be added four ounces of titanium-potassium oxalate dissolved 
in hot water and the drum run ten minutes longer. The liquor 
is then drained off and the skins are ready to be colored. 

Fustic Mordant. — The extract of fustic is another excellent 
article to use as a mordant, either alone or combined with 
logwood or gambier. Young fustic alone followed by titanium 
salts gives a light tan. Gambier and red fustic alone followed 
by titanium salts produce a brownish tan shade. From five to 
twelve ounces of liquid extract of fustic for each dozen skins 
according to their size may be used for either light or dark 
shades. For very dark shades, such as chocolate brown, it 
may be used in equal proportions with pure logwood liquor. 
The skins should be drummed in the liquor at a temperature 
of no degrees Fahr. for twenty minutes; then a solution of 
titantum-potassium oxalate should be run in, the drum run ten 



198 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

minutes longer, the liquor then drained off, and the dye liquor 
run in. 

Clearing the Grain and Setting the Color with Tartar Emetic. 
— When tanning material is used to prepare chrome leather for 
aniline dyes it is advisable to use some material that will over- 
come any tannin not combined with the leather, to clear the 
grain and to fasten the dye evenly and permanently upon the 
leather. Tartar emetic does this perfectly. After the skins 
have been drummed in the tan liquor the required length of 
time a solution of tartar emetic is poured into the drum and 
the skins are drummed twenty minutes longer. Four ounces 
for each dozen skins is sufhcient. At the end of the time 
stated, the liquor should be run out of the drum, the skins 
rinsed and then colored. When titanium salts are used it is 
not necessary to use tartar emetic ; and when tartar emetic is 
used it is not necessary to use titanium salts or bichromate of 
potash to set the color. The writer personally prefers the use 
of titanium salts. 

■ OxBLOOD Shades. 

Receipt No. i . — For each hundred pounds of skins use 

Hypermic Extract 23^ pounds. 

Logwood Crystals ii'2 ounces. 

Leather Red Vo ounce. 

Dissolve these material by boiling in a few gallons of water^ 
then add enough cold water to make twelve gallons of liquor 
and use it at a temperature of 130 degrees Fahr. Drum the 
skins in this liquor one-half hour, then dissolve in hot water^ 
for each hundred pounds of skins, 

Titanium-Potassium Oxalate 43<^ ounces, 

and pour into the drum and let the drum rotate fifteen minutes; 
longer. Then remove the skins from the drum, wash and fat- 
liquor them. 

Another way to use this process is to put the skins and 
twelve gallons of hot water into the drum, start the drum and 
then add the dyestufTs through the hollow axle. The formula 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 1 99 

given above produces a nice shade of oxblood at less cost than 
aniline colors, and the color is rich and fast. 

Receipt No. 2. Oxblood Shade. — Prepare the skins with gam- 
bier and fustic, or with sumac and titanium-potassium oxalate, 
then apply the following dyes : 

Amaranth 3-R 2 pounds. 

Amaranth i-R 12 ounces. 

Chocolate Brown o 4 ounces. 

These quantities are for five dozen small skins. Divide the 
amaranth 3-R into four portions, and drum the skins ten min- 
utes after each portion is put into the drum. Then add the 
other two dyes and drum the leather one-half hour, then drain 
and fat-liquor it. 

Receipt No. J. Dark Oxblood Shade. — For one dozen small 

calfskins use as a mordant 

Peachwood Extract 2 pounds. 

Fustic Extract i pound. 

Dissolve these extracts in boiling water and use at no de- 
grees Fahr. Drum the skins one-half hour, then add the 
solution of titanium-potassium oxalate and drum ten minutes 
longer. Then dissolve by boiling the following anilines : 

Amaranth 3-R 6 ounces. 

Malachite Green 3^ ounce. 

When the ten minutes are up, drain the liquor out of the 
drum and run in the dye, using two or three gallons of water 
for each dozen skins. 

Receipt No. ^. Oxblood Shade. — For one dozen large calf- 
skins use as a mordant 

Peachwood Extract 2]/^ pounds. 

Fustic Extract i pound. 

Dissolve by boiling and apply to the skins at iio degrees 
Fahr. Run one-half hour. In the meantime dissolve by boil- 
ing in a clean pail 

Amaranth 3-R 12 ounces. 

Glycerine 8 ounces. 

Strain the solution, add three gallons of water and add the 
liquor to the skins at iio degrees Fahr. Drum the skins one- 



200 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

half hour, then dip each skin separately in clean water, run 
off the dye liquor and wash out the drum. Put the skins back 
into the drum and run them in a solution of two ounces of 
bichromate of potash per dozen for fifteen minutes. The skins 
should then be taken out, struck out and fat-liquored. This 
gives the correct shade of oxblood. A greater depth of color 
can be obtained by increasing the strength of the peachwood 
and fustic liquor. For a light shade use more fustic and less 
peachwood extract. 

If sumac extract be used for a mordant, take one pound for 
each dozen skins, then proceed to color as directed above. 
Or work according to the following instructions : Mordant the 
skins with sumac extract, then add a hot solution of titanium 
salts and drum the leather ten minutes. Then drain the liquor 
out of the drum and give the skins the amaranth and glycerine 
solution as described above, drumming the leather in the dye 
thirty minutes; then wash it, strike it out and fat-liquor it. 

Alizarine Brown on Chrome Calfskins. 

Receipt No. 5. — No tannin mordant is required. For each 

hundred pounds of skins use 

Alizarine Leather Brown B No 9052 12 ounces. 

Extract of Yellow Fustic i quart. 

Heat six gallons of water to 190 degrees Fahr. and dissolve 
in it the alizarine dye, then add six gallons of cold water and 
use the liquor at a temperature of 165 degrees Fahr. Put the 
skins into the drum and start the drum; then pour the liquor 
though the funnel and gudgeon and drum the skins one-half 
hour. In the meantime dissolve the extract of fustic in a gal- 
lon of hot water, run it into the drum and drum the skins fif- 
teen minutes. Then drain off the spent dye liquor and fat- 
liquor the leather. 

Chocolate Browns with Dyewoods and Aniline Dyes. 
Receipt No. 6. — A dark chocolate brown can be obtained on 
chrome calfskins by using the following dyes in the quantities 
stated : 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 20I 

- Fustic Extract, lemon shade 2}/^ pounds. 

Hypermic Extract 10 ounces. 

Logwood Crystals 3 ounces. 

These quantities are sufficient for one hundred pounds of 
shaved skins. Dissolve by boiling in a few gallons of water, 
add enough cold water to make twelve gallons of liquor. Use 
at 130 degrees Fahr. Put the skins into the drum and run the 
dye liquor in through the hollow axle ; then run the drum thirty 
minutes. When the time is nearly up dissolve in hot water : 

Titanium-Potassium Oxalate c 5 ounces. 

Pour the solution into the drum at the end of thirty minutes, 
and run the drum ten minutes longer. The leather should 
then be washed and fat-liquored. 

Receipt No. 7. — Mordant the skins with either gambier and 
fustic or palmetto extract. Drum them thirty minutes, then 
add the solution of titanium salts and run the drum ten minutes 
longer. Chocolate brown 270 is the proper dye to use. Ac- 
cording to their size from four to twelve ounces are required 
ior one dozen skins. Run them in the dye liquor thirty min- 
utes, then wash, and give them the fat-liquor. 

Receipt No. 8. — Upon skins mordanted with fustic, sumac or 
gambier and titanium salts use : 

Yellow 849 , % pound. 

Run the skins in this solution ten minutes ; then dissolve and 
pour into the drum : 

Chocolate Brown 270 i pound, 

Bismarck Brown Y S % pound, 

Chocolate Brown O 3^ pound, 

and run the drum twenty minutes, then wash and fat-liquor the 
skins. 

Receipt No. p. — A good shade of brown can be obtained in 
the following manner: For each dozen skins use ten ounces of 
liquid of fustic or sumac dissolved in hot water. Drum the 
skins in this liquor fifteen minutes, then pour into the drum 
four ounces per dozen of tartar emetic also dissolved in hot 
water, and continue the drumming fifteen minutes, after which 



202 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

rinse the skins in warm water and color them in the drum with 
these dyes : 

Phosphine for Leather 8 ounces. 

Leather Green M i^ ounce. 

Methyl Violet 2B i ounce. 

The aniHnes must be thoroughly dissolved and mixed before 
they are used. 

In place of tartar emetic, titanium salts may be used. The 
skins, after they have assumed the color desired should be 
washed, struck out and fat-liquored. 

Light and Dark Tan Shades. 
Receipt No. 10. — For light tan shade, use for each hundred 
pounds of skins : 

Yellow Fustic Extract 2 pounds. 

Titanium-Potassium Oxalate 4 ounces. 

Have twelve gallons of fustic liquor and use it at 130 degrees 
Fahr. Drum the skins in it for one-half hour; then pour into- 
the drum the titanium salts dissolved in hot water and run the 
drum fifteen minutes. The skins should then be washed and 
fat-liquored. 

Receipt. No. 11 . Dark Tan. — Dissolve in boiling water for 
each hundred pounds of skins: 

Red Fustic Extract 4 pounds. 

Apply to the skins at 130 degrees Fahr., running the drum 
one-half hour; then add, in solution, 

Titanium-Potassium Oxalate 6 ounces, 

and run the drum fifteen minutes longer. Wash and fat-liquor 
the leather. No aniline dye is used to produce these two 
shades of tan, the fustic extract and titanium salts serving to 
color the skins the right shade at much less cost than aniline 
dyes. 

How TO Dissolve Aniline Dyes. 
Put the dye into hot or boiling water and boil until it is dis- 
solved ; then strain the solution through cheese cloth into 
another vessel and add cold water until there is twelve gallons 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 203. 

of liquor. A safe temperature is 130 degrees Fahr. It is best 
not to let the temperature of the liquor in the drum fall below 
100 degrees Fahr. The drum should not be stopped until the 
dye liquor has been in at least ten minutes ; and while the dye 
is being poured into the drum the latter should be kept in 
motion. These points carefully observed help materially in 
getting satisfactory colors. The drum and pails used should 
be kept as clean as possible. 

Process of Coloring After Fat-Liquoring. 
Very uniform results are obtained in the coloring of chrome 
calfskins by coloring them after they have been fat-liquored. 
After the skins have been washed and shaved, mordant them 
with gambier or palmetto extract or with gambler and fustic ; 
then fat-liquor them with acid fat-liquor or with any good 
emulsion of soap and oil, but preferably with the acid fat- 
liquor; then color with aniline dyes and dry them for fin- 
ishing. This method of coloring is preferred by some dyers to 
the method of fat-liquoring after coloring. The work can also 
be done by fat-liqaoring the skins first, then applying the 
vegetable tanning-material and then coloring to shade with 
aniline dye. Skins handled this way can be treated with titan- 
ium salts in the same manner as skins that are colored before 
they are fat-liquored. 

How TO Dye Chrome-tanned Calfskins Black. 

Dyeing with Logwood and Titmiinm Salts. — After the skins 
have been shaved, they are dyed. Weigh them ; and for each 
hundred pounds use logwood and fustic as follows : 

Logwood Crystals i)^' pounds. 

Fustic Paste 4 ounces. 

Boil the logwood in ten gallons of water, then put in the 
the fustic paste and a few ounces of borax and stir the liquor 
thoroughly. Add enough cold water to make fifteen gallons ; 
use at 125 degrees Fahr. Drum the skins in the dye one-half 
hour; then add, in hot solution, to the logwood liquor, 

Titanium- Potassium Oxalate 6 ounces. 



204 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Run the drum twenty minutes, then wash the leather and 
prepare it for the fat-liquor. No copperas or iron liquor is 
necessary, the skins coming out of this process a rich, jet black. 

Dyeing with Logwood and Bichromate of Potash. — For one 
hundred pounds of skins use: 

Logwood Crystals 1 1^' pounds. 

Fustic Paste 4 ounces. 

Dissolve the logwood by boiling in ten gallons of water. 
Dissolve the fustic in a pail of hot water, add it to the logwood 
liquor, stirring thoroughly. Add water to make fifteen gallons 
of liquor and drum the skins in it at 125 degrees Fahr. for one- 
half hour. In the meantime dissolve in a gallon of hot water 
for one hundred pounds of skins : 

Bichromate of Potash i ounce. 

At the end of the first thirty minutes, pour this solution into 
the drum and process the skins fifteen minutes longer. Then 
drain the drum and wash the skins in two or three changes of 
water before fat-liquoring them. Add to the logwood liquor 
three ounces of salts of tartar for one hundred pounds of skins. 

Dyeijig with Logwood and Copperas. — Use for each hundred 
pounds of skins ; 

Logwood Crystals i)-^ pounds. 

Fustic Paste 4 ounces. 

Boil the same as in preceding receipts and drum the skins 
in the liquor one-half hour. Add four ounces of borax or salts 
of tartar before using the dye, prepared by boiling in a pail 
of water : 

Copperas 2 ounces. 

Bluestone o y-^ ounce. 

Add enough cold water to make five gallons of liquor. Pour 
it into the drum and run the same fifteen minutes, then drain 
the drum, and wash the skins in two or three changes of water 
to remove all the copperas; then fat-liquor them. 

Dyeing with Aniline Black. — Drum the skins in a solution 
of gambler, sumac, palmetto or fustic the same as for colors. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 20$ 

Then dye with methyl violet aniline, and fat liquor them. 
Then run in aniline black solution, six ounces per one hundred 
pounds, for twenty minutes, and then pour into the drum four 
ounces of titanium-potassium oxalate and run the drum fifteen 
minutes. Wash the leather, oil the grain and hang up to dry. 
Use one pound of the titanium salts in a barrel of seasoning,, 
omitting copperas. 

Fat-Liquors for Black and Colored Chrome-tanned 

Calfskins. 

In order that chrome-tanned skins may be finished into soft 
and well nourished leather, it is necessary that they be treated 
with soap and oil in the form of an emulsion after they have 
been colored and washed. To a great extent the quality of the 
finished leather depends upon how this work is done and what 
materials are employed. Nothing can be used that will effect 
the color or cause the leather to be greasy, streaked, or spotted. 
After the coloring operations are completed, the skins should 
be washed and struck out or pressed to remove the surplus 
water. A suitable pin mill or drum is then heated with live 
steam to 140 degrees Fahr., the condensed steam drained out, 
and the leather thrown into the drum. The latter is then 
set in motion and the leather drummed for a few minutes 
to warm it. The hot fat-liquor is then poured into the drum 
through the funnel attached to the hollow gudgeon; and after 
the last of it is in, the drum should be run thirty or forty min- 
utes so that all the grease can be taken up by the leather leaving 
nothing but water in the drum. Some tanners in order to ex- 
pedite matters, do not wash their leather after coloring. They 
simply drain off" the spent dye liquor, and then run in the fat- 
liquor. Fat-liquor emulsions should be used hot at a temper- 
ature of from 120 to 160 degrees Fahr. The less water there 
is in the leather the more quickly the fat-liquor is taken up. 

Any one of the following formulas can be used with perfect 
safety on black or colored skins. 



206 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

No. I . — For one hundred pounds of leather use : 

Fig or Olive Soap i pound. 

Neatsfoot Oil 2 pounds. 

Moellon Degras 2 pounds. 

Caustic Soda i ounce. 

Boil the soap in a few gallons of water until dissolved, then 
add the oil, and boil the soap and oil for fifteen minutes; then 
stir the moellon degras thoroughly into the emulsion, adding 
the caustic soda dissolved in water. Stir the mixture very thor- 
oughly for several minutes. Add enough water to make twelve 
gallons of fat-liquor. Use at 125 degrees Fahr., and run the 
leather in it for thirty minutes. This is a good fat-liquor 
for bright-finished leather. 

No. 2. — This is a good fat-liquor for colored leather. For 
one-hundred pounds of skins use : 

Soap )-o pound. 

Olive Oil 2 pounds. 

Treated Cod Oil 2 pounds. 

Birch Oil • 2 ounces. 

Salts of Tartar 3 ounces. 

Boil the soap until it is dissolved, then add the olive and 
cod oils, and boil for twenty minutes ; add the birch oil and 
then the salts of tartar dissolved in a little water. Run in 
water to make twelve gallons of fat-liquor, and use it at 125 
degrees Fahr. Drum the leather in it for thirty minutes, then 
place it over horses to press and drain several hours before 
striking it out and hanging it up to dry. 

No. J. — For light calfskins colored or black, this fat-liquor 
is recommended : 

Palermo Fig Soap 10 pounds. 

Neatsfoot or Cod Oil 4 gallons. 

Egg Yolk 10 pounds. 

Comnnon Salt 2 pounds. 

Put the soap into a clean barrel with several gallons of water. 

Boil with steam until it is dissolved. Now take the oil and cut 

it by stirring into it a few ounces of potash or sal soda dissolved 

in hot water. Stir the oil into the soap solution, then run in 

forty gallons of cold water to cool the emulsion. Then add 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 207 

the egg yolk and salt; stir the whole again and apply to the 
skins at a temperature of 80 degrees Fahr. 

The quantity to be used must be determined by the judgment 
of the operator. Twenty gallons is sufficient for ten dozen 
small, light skins. It gives excellent results on skins for upper 
leather and glove stock. Care must be taken to cool off the 
soap and oil emulsion before adding the egg yolk in order to 
prevent coagulation of the albuminous constituents of the egg. 
For use on heavy calfskins, add five or six pounds of French 
degras to the oil and soap, mixing thoroughly, and reduce the 
quantity of egg yolk to five pounds. 

No. ^. — An excellent fat-liquor for chrome calfskins is made 
of the following ingredients : 

Palermo Fig Soap 20 pounds. 

Wyandotte Tanners' Soda 5 pounds. 

French Degras 100 pounds. 

Boil the soap in twenty gallons of water until it is dissolved, 
then run in enough cold water to reduce the temperature to 
140 degrees Fahr. Then add the soda and degras and stir the 
mixture vigorously for five minutes, but do not boil it after 
putting in the degras and soda. For one hundred pounds of 
leather use two gallons of this fat-liquor with six gallons of hot 
water. Use at 125 degrees Fahr. After running the leather 
for thirty minutes, take it out, rinse in a tub of warm water, 
set out and oil the grain. 

JVo. 5. — This fat-liquor is suitable for dull or mat-finished 
calfskins. For one hundred pounds of skins use: 

Palermo Fig or other good Soap i pound. 

Treated Cod Oil 4 pounds. 

Moellon Degras 2 pounds. 

Caustic Soda i ounce. 

Boil the soap, add the oil and boil again, then add the de- 
gras and soda and stir five minutes. Use at 125 degrees Fahr. 
and drum the skins in it for one-half hour. 

No. 6. — Sulphated oil or acid fat-liquor is a splendid material 
for chrome leather. From five to five and a half pounds are 
sufficient for one hundred pounds of leather. Use it by dis- 



208 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

solving it in warm water and applying to the skins at 95 de- 
grees Fahr. Have the skins thoroughly warmed up before 
giving them the fat-liquor, and the drum also warm so that the 
oil will not congeal. Run the skins in the liquor thirty min- 
utes, then take them out and rinse them ofif in clean warm 
water to remove all traces of grease. Be sure to have a clean 
warm drum, warm skins and warm fat-liquor. The grain needs 
no subsequent oiling when acid fat-liquor is used. 

Oiling and Drying the Leather. 

When the fat-Hquoring has been accomplished, the skins 
should be placed smoothly over horses for several hours so 
that the grease may combine with the fibers. The skins should 
then be struck out upon the grain and be given a light coat of 
warm oil. The striking-out is done to smooth out the wrinkles,^ 
to work the leather out as much as possible and to lay the • 
grain down smooth and flat. The oil that is applied is the 
basis of the subsequent finish and should be of good quality, 
free from tendency to gum or spew. The water should be 
pressed out of the leather before the oil is put on so that the 
latter can quickly penetrate into the body of the skin, where it 
will add strength to the fibers. For glazed and bright boarded 
finish a mixture of one part neatsfoot oil and three parts paraffine 
oil is recommended ; for dull leather the mixture may be equal 
parts neatsfoot and paraffine. Olive oil is also recommended 
for glazed leather. A mixture of one part olive oil and three 
parts paraffine is quite satisfactory. Sperm oil, treated neats- 
foot and Dull Morocco Dressing Oil are all good. It is advisa- 
ble to warm the oil before use, to apply it evenly over the body 
of each skin and to rub it into the grain and not to apply any 
of it to the flanks. After the skins have been oiled they are 
hung up to dry. It is best to dry them rather slowly in a 
moderately warm room with good circulation of warm air. 

The next treatment is dampening and staking, which should 
not be done until the leather is perfectly dry. 



the manufacture of calfskin leathers. 209 

Dampening and Staking. 
To dampen the leather, have a tub two-thirds full of hot 
water. Take a few skins at a time and put them in the water, 
allowing them to soak a few minutes, then place them in a pile 
on the floor or put them in a box, press them down hard and 
cover the pile with damp sawdust. Let the skins remain in the 
box over night; then stake them. The skins should not be 
staked too hard, the flanks especially being staked lightly. 
When the skins have been sufiEiciently worked out on the stak- 
ing machine, tack them out smooth on the tacking boards or 
frames to dry. They soon dry, and should then be trimmed 
and given a coat of seasoning. For glazed finish stake after 
trimming. 

Glazed Finish. 

Give the skins a coat of seasoning, hang them up to dry, 
then glaze them. Next give them a second coat of seasoning, 
dry and stake ; then glaze them the second time. Oil the 
glazed finish lightly with hot finishing oil or with a mixture of 
equal parts of neatsfoot and finishing oils and the leather is done. 
The leather can be handled this way also : After the first 
glazing, stake the skins, then apply the second coat of season- 
ing, dry and glaze. Good glazing liquors or seasoning can be 
bought ready-made. Unless the tanner has a first-class receipt 
for a seasoning he should buy such material instead of using a 
finish that may not prove satisfactory. 

To clear the grain of grease, rub into it, before applying the 
first coat of seasoning, a dilute solution of lactic acid, rubbing 
it in well. When this has dried, apply the seasoning. Or 
clean the grain before the leather is staked. 

Boarded or Box Finish. 

The leather for boarded grain should be glazed and the 
grain pressed. To obtain a sharp and regular grain it is best 
to press the leather before boarding or graining it. A pow- 
erful press and sharp cut rolls are required ; then the skins are 
14 



210 PRACTICAL TANNING, 

boarded first from head to tail, then from side to side. They 
are then oiled the same as smooth finish. 

Smooth Dull Finish. 

Take the skins from the tacking frames and trim them ; next 
apply a coat of dull finish to the grain and dry it; then give 
another coat of finish and dry; finally iron with a hot iron, 
then stake them. Finished this way the leather is soft and 
full, having a fine break and feel. 

Seasoning for Dull Finish. — This will make a fine dull finish 
with a soft, dry feel : 

Ivory Soap • i pound. 

Neatsfoot Oil i pint. 

'Wh<;le Flaxseed impound. 

Beeswax 3 ounces. 

Nigrosine Black 3 ounces. 

Powdered Aloes • • • i ounce. 

Wood Alcohol >2 P''"t. 

Boil the soap, oil, flaxseed and beeswax for one-half hour in 
two gallons of water. Cool and strain. Then dissolve the 
nigrosine in a quart of water and add it to the solution. Then 
dissolve the aloes in the wood alcohol and add the solution to 
the finish. Stir thoroughly. 

Seasoning for Glazed Finish. — A good finish for glazed calf- 
skins is made of: 

Whole Flaxseed 2 ounces. 

Logwood Cr\ SI als 2 ounces. 

Nigrosine Black 2 ounces. 

Bichromate of Potash }4. ounce, 

Vinette Y^W^^- 

Beef Blood I quart. 

Glycerine Yz pint. 

Crystal Carbolic Acid i ounce. 

Boil the flaxseed one-half hour in a gallon of water and 

strain. Then add the logwood, nigrosine and bichromate of 

potash. When the mixture has cooled to 90 degrees Fahr., 

add the vinette, blood, glycerine and carbolic acid. Stir the 

finish very thoroughly. There should be two gallons of 

seasoning. If there is less add enough cold water to bring the 

quantity up to two gallons. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 211 

Gun Metal Finish. — To get this popular finish, take the 
skins after trimming and give them a coat of bright finish, dry 
and glaze and then stake them. Next apply a coat of the fol- 
lowing finish, dry the skins, iron them, then oil the grain with 
hot oil : 

Gum Tragacanlh i ounce. 

Yellow Dye i^ ounce. 

Glazed Seasoning i gallon. 

Soak the gum tragacanth twenty-four hours in two quarts of 
water; then stir it until completely dissolved. Dissolve the 
•yellow dye in a quart of water. Take one gallon of the season- 
ing for glazed finish and stir into it a quart of the gum solution. 
Then add the solution of yellow dye a little at a time, stirring 
thoroughly, until the color of the finish has changed from black 
to greenish-black. Too much yellow dye must be guarded 
against or the leather will be too green. For oiling off after 
finishing, use a hot mixture of equal parts paraffine and neats- 
foot oils or any good finishing oil. 

Seasoning for Chrome Colored Calfskins. — When the skins 
are trimmed apply a coat of seasoning, dry and finish. Make 
the seasoning of: 

Ivory Soap — 1 1^ pounds. 

French Gelatine 3 ounces. 

Blood Albumen 3 ounces. 

Soak the soap in six quarts of water for twenty-four hours, 
■or shave and boil it until it is dissolved. Dissolve the gelatine 
in a quart of hot water. When cool, mix and stir the soap and 
gelatine together. Soak the blood albumen over night in two 
•quarts of water at 90 degrees Fahr. In the morning stir into it 
the soap. Strain a quart of the finish into six quarts of water, at 
90 degrees Fahr. After giving the leather a coat of this season- 
ing, dry it and stake it lightly, then give a second coat and 
hang up to dry. When the leather is half dry, roll it ; then 
•dry it and jack it lightly, using a piece of hard felt in place of 
the glass. The pressure must be light or the leather will show 
shaded spots. 



212 practical tanning. 

Calfskin Glove and Mitten Leather. 

The skins should be sorted right at the beginning so as to 
get the different sizes and weights into separate lots. Large, 
thin skins are the most profitable for glove and mitten 
leather. Soak green salted skins in clean cold water twenty- 
four hours, then run them in a drum fifteen minutes, put them 
back into water and soak them eighteen hours longer. The 
next work is trimming and fleshing, after which the skins are 
ready to be put into lime. The skins should be well opened 
out when they are put into the lime and should not be 
crowded in the liquor but have plenty of room. 

For the first lime use two and a half pounds of lime for every 
hundred pounds of skins. , Have it well slaked and plunged up 
in the vat. Leave the skins in the first lime twenty-four hours, 
then pull them out, plunge the lime up and put the skins back. 
On the third day, pull the skins out and add two and a half 
pounds of lime, well slaked, and return the skins to the vat. 
On the fourth day, pull the skins out, plunge the lime, and put 
the skins back. On the fifth day add to the lime in the vat 
three and a half pounds of lime and two pounds of red arsenic 
for each hundred pounds of skins and leave the skins in until 
the seventh day, at which time add three pounds of lime and 
one and a half pounds of red arsenic and warm the lime liquor 
to 75 degrees Fahr, On the eighth day take the skins out, 
warm the lime to 80 degrees Fahr. and put the skins back in 
again. Nine days lining is sufificient. On the ninth day the 
skins should be unhaired, washed a few minutes in cold water, 
then refleshed and worked for fine hair, after which they are 
bated. 

The following described process of bating is recommended 
for calfskins. It is cheap, simple, safe and effective. Run 
water into a paddle vat and heat it to 120 degrees Fahr. Put 
two pailsful of dry bran into the warm water and let stand until 
the next morning. Then heat the mixture up to 95 degrees 
Fahr,, add one-half pint of lactic acid for each hundred pounds 
of skins, stir thoroughly and put the skins in. After the skins 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 213 

are in, add another half-pint of lactic acid for each hundred 
pounds of skins and run the paddle wheel for three and a half 
hours ; then take the skins out and wash them in warm water. 
They will be found in excellent condition, soft and clean and 
iree from lime. 

For the next lot of skins run out about twelve inches of the 
liquor and replace it with water; do not use any more bran 
but use one pint of lactic acid for each hundred pounds of 
skins and bate the skins exactly as the first lot was bated. 
After using the old liquor for a week, run if out and make up 
a new one with two pails of bran and a pint of lactic acid for 
each hundred pounds of skins to be bated. 

The skins, washed from the bate, are then pickled. Make 
up a brine in a paddle vat by adding thirty-five pounds of salt 
ior each hundred gallons of water in the vat, then add ten 
pounds of salt and one and one-half pounds of sulphuric acid 
to the brine for each hundred pounds of washed and drained 
skins. Plunge the pickling liquor thoroughly, then throw in 
the skins and run the paddle for two hours so that the liquor 
will be stirred during the process. When the two hours are 
are up, take the skins out and horse them up nice and smooth 
for twelve hours ; then tan them. 

The two-bath chrome-system of tanning is carried out as fol- 
lows : Weigh the pickled skins. In four gallons of water dissolve 
by boiling five pounds of bichromate of potash for each hundred 
pounds of skins in the lot, then add six gallons of cold water 
and one pound of sulphuric acid to the chrome solution. Put 
half of this liquor into the drum with the skins and start the 
drum. As soon as the drum has been started pour the rest of 
the yellow liquor through the gudgeon and drum the skins in 
it for three and a half hours, then take them out and place 
them smoothly over horses and leave them for twenty-four 
hours. The workman who handles the skins must wear rubber 
gloves or his hands will become sore from the action of the 
poisonous chrome liquor. Prepare the second part of the pro- 
cess by boiling eighteen pounds of hyposulphite of soda for 



214 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

each hundred pounds of skins, in ten gallons of water, and coof 
the solution down by adding six gallons of cold water to it. 
Put four pounds of muriatic acid into a pail of water. Throw 
the skins into the drum with the hyposulphite solution and 
start the drum. As soon as the drum starts pour the solution^ 
of muriatic acid slowly into it through the funnel attached to 
the hollow axle. Drum the skins without stopping four hours 
after the acid is put in, then take them out of the drum and 
horse them up to drain over night. The next process is wash- 
ing which should be done first in warm borax water and then 
in clear water until the skins are free from all acid and salt. 
The one-bath process of tanning can also be used. The manu- 
facturers of the tanning material furnish directions for its use 
and by following the instructions any tanner can make good 
chrome leather with perfect safety. 

A good way to treat the skins is to tan them with one-bath 
tanning material, then, without washing them, to color, fat- 
liquor and dry them, then staking them and washing them for 
two hours before drying them again for the final finishing. 
When the two-bath processes used it is best to wash the skins 
before coloring them, then to trim and shave them. 

Light and dark shades of tan are popular colors for gloves, 
and mittens. By following the directions given below very 
nice colors can be obtained. 

Light Tan. — Weigh the shaved skins. Dissolve two pounds 
of yellow fustic extract in a pail of hot water. Put the skins 
into the drum with twelve gallons of water at 130 degrees Fahr. 
for each hundred pounds of skins. Start the drum and then 
pour the fustic liquor through the hollow gudgeon into the 
drum; drum the skins in the liquor one-half hour. While the 
drum is running, dissolve four ounces of titanium-potassium 
oxalate in hot water ; at the end of the half hour add this solu- 
tion to the contents of the drum and run the drum fifteen 
minutes longer ; then wash the skins and fat-liquor them. 

Dark Tan. — For each hundred pounds of skins dissolve four 
pounds of red fustic extract. Put the skins into the drum with 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 21 5 

twelve gallons of water at 130 degrees Fahr., start the drum, 
then run the fustic liquor in upon the skins. At the end of 
thirty minutes add to the liquor in the drum six ounces of 
titanium potassium oxalate in solution, run the drum fifteen 
minutes longer; then wash and fat-liquor the skins. 

Light Yellow. — Make a gambler liquor by boiling twelve 
pounds of gambler in twenty-two gallons of water ; when the 
gambler is dissolved add to the solution one-half pint of 
muriate of tin and one and a half ounces of tin crystals. When 
this liquor has cooled down to 90 degrees Fahr., it is ready for 
use. For from one hundred to one hundred and fifty skins, ac- 
cording to size, use four pails of this gambler liquor and two 
gallons of water. Drum the skins in this mixture for one hour, 
then add one-half pound of picric acid, and one-half pound of 
fustic extract dissolved in three gallons of hot water, and let the 
drum run thirty minutes longer; then place the skins over 
horses, and let them drain until the next morning, and finally 
fat-liquor them. The foregoing process is a good one to use 
on skins tanned in a one-bath process. Do not wash them 
after tanning nor after coloring; but after they have been dried 
out wash them for two hours, then dry again, stake and finish. 
The color will be very uniform and permanent, and the leather 
very soft. 

Make the fat-liquor of fig soap, sod and neatsfoot oils and 
degras. Boil ten pounds of the soap in fifteen gallons of 
water. Pour into the dissolved soap three gallons of neatsfoot 
oil and one gallon of sod oil, and boil and stir oil and soap 
together, then stir into the boiling liquor seven pounds of de- 
gras and add enough water to make fifty gallons of fat-liquor. 
The exact quantity to use must be determined by the size of 
the skins. One hundred large skins require from fifteen to 
twenty gallons, applied at a temperature of 125 degrees Fahr. 
Dry the skins in a hot room, and when they are dry keep 
them in a dry room for a week, then dampen and wash them 
if they were not washed after tanning, dry them again and then 
stake them once or twice to get them soft and well worked out. 



2l6 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

After the skins have been staked, throw them into a drum 
with three to four quarts of soapstone for each hundred skins 
and run the drum two hours. Finally stake the skins again 
and they are finished ; and if the work has been carefully done 
the leather will be all that could be desired as regards soft- 
ness and color. 

A nice yellow shade can be obtained on the skins by the 
use of fustic and auramine II. For one hundred pounds of 
leather dissolve twenty-six ounces of extract of fustic in five 
gallons of water; add to this solution five ounces of tin crystals 
and when dissolved add enough water to make ten gallons of 
liquor. Drum the skins in this yellow liquor one-half hour. 
In four gallons of boiling water dissolve a little more than five 
ounces of the auramine dye and run the solution into the drum 
on the fustic bottom, and let the drum rotate twenty minutes 
longer, drain the leather a few hours and then fat-liquor it. 

Chrome Wax Calf Leather. 

The tanner of chrome calfskins finds among his skins many 
that are imperfect on the grain. Such skins can be retanned 
and finished into chrome wax. Heavy skins are more suitable 
for this leather than light ones, the latter being more suitable 
for ooze leather. All skins from a medium up to ten or twelve 
pounds can be worked into chrome wax, provided they are 
free from butcher cuts on the flesh side. The skins are worked 
through the beamhouse the same as those for chrome leather; 
they are tanned preferably with one-bath chrome material 
and then shaved. After they are shaved they are washed 
and then retanned. 

Retanning. — This consists in retanning the skins with hem- 
lock extract or with a mixture of hemlock and oak extracts or 
with any other suitable vegetable tanning material. Two 
methods of retanning will be here described. 

The first liquor is a 5-degree barkometer hemlock liquor in 
which the skins are hung twenty-four hours. This liquor is then 
strengthened to 8 degrees and the skins are left in the same 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 217 

forty-eight hours, after which it is strengthened to 10 degrees, 
the skins remaining therein forty-eight hours. The skins 
are then transferred to a 14-degree liquor where they re- 
main six days. Handle every two days or give them a 16- 
degree liquor for four days, and handle every two days, then 
they should be given five days in an i8-degree liquor, being 
handled every other day. The retanning is then completed. 
The liquors may also be made up of oak and hemlock extracts 
in the proportion of three parts of the latter to one part of the 
former. 

Retanning may also be done in a drum in the following 
manner: The first liquor is made of three pounds of hemlock 
extract and one pound of oak extract and five pounds of salt 
in twenty-five gallons of water for one hundred pounds of 
skins, weighed after tanning in the chrome liquor. In this 
liquor the skins are run one hour, then they are piled down for 
twenty four hours. The second liquor may be the same as the 
first, the skins being run in it one hour, then piled down for 
twenty-four hours. On the third day the skins are given the 
last retanning liquor, which is made up of three pounds of oak 
extract and one pound of hemlock extract and no salt. The 
skins are run in this liquor two hours, then placed in piles for 
twelve hours. Retanning by suspension in the liquor is doubt- 
less the better method of the two. In handling the skins 
through the tan yard it is well to take them from the vats and 
allow them to lie in a pile from four to six hours. After they 
are fully retanned, they should lie on a pile forty-eight hours 
and then be fat-liquored. 

Pat- Liquoring. — The fat-liquor is made of sop and degras. 
For every dozen skins in the lot eight ounces of good soap are 
boiled in ten gallons of water; when dissolved, four pounds of 
moellon degras are stirred in. This liquor is given to the skins 
at a temperature of 125 degrees Fahr., the skins being run in it 
forty minutes, then left in a pile over night. The next day 
they are pressed, hung up and dried slightly for the second 
fat-liquoring. 



2l8 PRACTICAL TAA'NING. 

The second fat-liquor consists of stearine, hard grease and 
cod oil. The workman must depend upon his judgment to tell 
him when the skins are in suitable condition for the stuffing. 
The necks and flanks should be dampened more than the rest 
of the skins so that they will not absorb too much grease and 
be made coarse. The quantity of grease to be used must also 
be decided by the judgment of the operator. Chrome wax 
will not carry as much grease at vegetable-tanned leather. 
The stuffing should be used at a temperature of 140 degrees 
Fahr. 

After the skins are taken from the drum they should be 
placed in a pile and covered up and left until the next day. 
They are then set out on the flesh side with a slicker, and then 
with a stone, and hung up by the hind shanks until partly dry ; 
they are then reset on the grain side. When the skins are 
dry, they are piled down nice and smooth for six days when- 
they are ready for whitening. It is best to whiten by hand. 
After the skins are whitened they are grained with a heavy 
cork board going from right back shank to left front shank and 
vice versa. They should be thoroughly softened before they 
are blacked. 

Blacking. — A good black is made as follows : Take eight 
gallons of water and dissolve in it one and one-half pounds of 
logwood crystals, then add one-half ounce of bichromate of 
potash and stir well. Next add five pounds of good tallow 
soap and one-half pound of caustic potash and boil for two 
hours, then add five pounds of good gas lampblack and boil 
for three hours. There should be twenty gallons when fin- 
ished. This soap black should be stirred fifteen minutes every 
three hours until it is entirely cold, when it is ready to be used. 
The blacking can be put on by machine and better results are 
obtained by giving the skins one coat and glossing them ; then 
give another coat and gloss again. After the second glossing 
the skins are read}' for the paste. 

Paste. — Mix two and a half pounds of iiour with water until 
it forms a thin batter. Start by using a small amount of water 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 219 

SO as to get all the lumps worked out ; keep adding water until 
there is a thin batter. Now add to the batter one-half pound 
of soap cut into small pieces and one-fourth pound of frozen 
glue that has previously been soaked over night in a quart of 
cold water, two ounces of black nigrosine and one pint of cod 
oil. Boil this mixture half an hour and allow it to cool over 
night. In the morning add sufficient water to make it thin 
enough to feed through the machine. Give the skins a light 
coat of this paste and hang them up until almost dry, then take 
them down and gloss on the glossing jack and hang up over 
night, as it is very important that the paste be absolutely dry 
before the finish is put on. 

Finish. — The finish is made as follows : Soak one pound of 
frozen glue in three quarts of cold water twenty-four hours^ 
then add to the soaked glue one-half pound of ivory soap, two 
ounces of beeswax cut into small pieces, one and one-half 
pounds of white tallow, four ounces of black nigrosine, and boil 
the mixture twenty minutes and allow it to stand twenty- four 
hours undisturbed. Now add very carefully fourteen quarts of 
cold water, adding the same slowly and stirring all the time. 
When all the water is mixed in the finish is ready for use. 
This finish will give the skins a fine, mellow feel, and should be 
put on by hand, using a sponge. The skins should be given a 
good coat and hung up to dry. When thoroughly dry they 
are ready to trim and measure. The finished leather is very 
fine and soft. 

Vegetable Tannages for Calfskin Upper Leather. 

Gambier Tannage. — Calfskins as well as sheep, kangaroo 
and goatskins can be made into fine soft leather by tanning 
with gambier. A good-process of tanning the skins is applied 
in practice in the following manner : The skins, after having been 
bated and washed, are run in an old 12-degree barkometer liquor 
until colored ; they are then put into fresh gambier liquor, 
being hung therein for about twelve days, during which time 
the liquor is gradually strengthened every day. The skins are 



220 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

then pressed and wheeled and shaved or split as they may 
require; then they are run in a 12-degree liquor for a day or 
two before being placed in a 34- degree fresh gambier liquor 
sixteen days more. Salt should be added to the liquors to aid 
the tanning and to keep the liquors from getting sour. Light 
skins, of course, require less tanning than heavy ones, the pro- 
cess as described being suitable for heavy kangaroo and calf- 
skins. The skins, after they are tanned, are washed, set out 
on a machine, oiled lightly on the grain and dried in a mod- 
erate temperature. Skins that are to be colored fancy shades 
should be dried in a dark room. When dry, the skins improve 
in texture and feel by being stored some time before finishing. 
It improves the grain of gambier-tanned leather to drum the 
skins in a solution of alum and salt for thirty minutes after they 
are tanned. Seven pounds of alum and five pounds of salt 
dissolved in seven pails of Vv'ater make a satisfactory solution 
for 125 skins. This clears and strengthens the grain. The 
leather is then drained and either oiled on the grain by hand 
or run in a drum with five quarts of neatsfoot oil to every 125 
skins. After this the leather is set out and hung up to dry. 
A very satisfactory method of tanning is by the use of vats or 
tubs with paddles. Tn the first vat the skins are colored and 
handled ; in the second they are tanned until ready to be 
skived or split ; in the third the skins are tanned out after 
skiving. At the start the liquor should be four to five degrees 
barkometer and gradually strengthened as the tanning pro- 
ceeds until the skins are fully tanned. Into the water in the 
vats should be put six or seven pails of gambier liquor stand- 
ing 75 degrees (Baume test) in the pails or stock solution, also 
four or five pails of sediment gambier after the boiling. 
When the liquor is ready, put the skins in and run the paddle 
wheel thirty or forty minutes to assure a good color on the 
grain. The liquor should be strengthened twice daily with 
two or three pails of gambier and sediment, morning and even- 
ing, and the paddle should be run three times daily ten or 
fifteen minutes each time. At the end of four or five days 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 22 1 

the skins should be taken out of the liquor and struck out 
on the flesh and then put into the second or stronger liquor of 
eight or ten degrees barkometer. By running the paddle three 
times each day and by adding three pails of 75-degree gambier 
liquor each day the skins will be well struck through in about 
fourteen days. Set them out on the flesh side, skin them and 
then put them into the finishing liquors of 12 to 15 degrees 
for seven days. Each day the liquor should be strengthened 
with two pails of gambier and the wheel should be run fifteen 
minutes each time. One pail of salt should be added to the 
liquor each week. The final tanning can also be done in a 
drum. 

After they are fully tanned, the skins should be drummed in 
the solution of alum and salt, oiled and dried. 

After the skins are dry they should be dampened, run in 
warm water and shaved, after which they are fat-liquored, set 
out and dried again. When dry, the skins are dampened and 
colored. 

Another way to treat the skins is to wash them after tanning, 
then fat-liquor them, dry them, dampen, shave and mill them 
in sumac, and then color them. 

Sulphonated oil makes a splendid fat-liquor for colored 
gambier-tanned skins. Good leather is made by fat- liquoring 
lightly after tanning and washing, then drying the skins out, 
coloring them and then giving them the second application of 
fat-liquor. 

Dongola Leather. — Gambier, alum and salt make what is 
known as dongola leather. The first liquor of the process may 
be made of six-degree liquor and adding thereto ten pounds of 
alum and seven pounds of salt to each one hundred gallons of 
liquor. In this liquor the skins may remain for three days, the 
liquor being strengthened every day, the skins then being 
pressed and shaved. 

The second liquor should be straight gambier, alum and salt 
being left out. The skins must be watched and the strength of 
the liquor regulated according to the thickness and condition 



222 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

of the skins. The strength of the liquor may range from i8 to 
20 degrees and three days in such liquor will complete 
the tanning. The skins are then washed, pressed and fat- 
liquored with oil and hung up to dry. When dry, the skins 
are dampened, run in sumac, colored, refat-liquored and dried 
for finishing. 

Tanning with Palmetto. — For tanning with palmetto ex- 
tract, calfskins should be limed in arsenic limes, then bated 
with a bacterial bate, or drenched with lactic acid in the same 
manner as for chrome tanning ; pickling, however, can be 
omitted. 

The tanning is begun in cold palmetto liquor, 8 degrees 
barkometer, the skins being left therein one-half hour. They 
are then transferred to a drum and tanned with palmetto liquor 
30 degrees Baumo, (51 degrees Twaddle) at 75 degrees Fahr. 
One hundred pounds of skins should be given about sixty-five 
pounds of extract. After six or seven hours the skins are tan- 
ned through. They are then pressed, wheeled, split and shaved 
and then retanned half an hour in 8 degree liquor, then retanned 
in a drum one hour with strength of extract 30 degrees 
Baume, (51 Twaddle). The leather is now fully tanned. It is 
washed in cold water, pressed and fat-liquored and dried. 
When dry, the leather may be retanned in sumac and colored 
or dyed black, then finished. 

Tanning can also be done by suspending the skins in weak 
palmetto liquor and gradually strengthening the same until the 
skins are tanned through. 

Quebracho and Palmetto Tannage. — Soft, plump and well 
filled leather is made by tanning calfskins in liquors composed 
of 75 per cent, quebracho extract and 25 per cent, palmetto 
extract. The skins are suspended in a weak liquor which is 
strengthened each day until the skins are tanned through. 
The leather is then washed, fat-liquored and dried. 

Quebracho Tannage. — Calfskins intended for soft upper 
leather may be tanned with quebracho extract in the same 
manner as skins for fancy leather. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 223 

Quebracho and Hemlock Extracts used in the proportion of 
one part hemlock to two parts quebracho make a better tan- 
nage than hemlock alone, which is rather harsh. The skins 
are nailed on sticks and suspended in weak coloring liquor. 
The coloring should take about twenty-four hours. The skins 
are then taken out and placed in a 10 degree barkometer liquor 
which is strengthened from day to day until the skins are tanned 
through. Retanning may be done with quebracho and hem- 
lock liquor or with a solution of palmetto extract, preferably 
in a drum, the skins being then washed, fat-liquored and dried 
out. Still tanning produces plumper and better filled leather 
than tanning in drums or in vats with paddles. 

Tanning can be begun in hemlock liquor and finished in 
gambler or palmetto liquor. Palmetto extract is especially 
suitable for retanning. It puts the leather into condition to 
stand heat well and to take and carry grease, and it also 
toughens the leather and makes it more water-proof. 

Hemlock-tanned leather is always improved by being re- 
tanned with palmetto or gambler or with gambler and sumac. 
The harshness of the hemlock is toned down and the leather 
takes and retains a better color. 

Fat-liquors for Vegetable-tanned Calf Leather. 

The following fat-liquors are suitable for gambler, palmetto, 
dongola, hemlock, quebracho and combination tanned leather: 

Receipt No. i. — For two hundred pounds of dry leather or 
four hundred pounds of wet leather, weighed after washing and 
pressing from the tan, three pails or seven and one- half gallons 
of the following fat-liquor will be sufficient: 

Borax-chip Soap 24 pounds. 

Sal Soda 12 pounds. 

Treated Cod Oil • . • •. 15 gallons. 

Birch Oil 2% gallons. 

Boil the soap and sal soda in five pails of water in a barrel 
until dissolved, then add the oils, stir and boil thoroughly, then 
add enough water to make forty-five gallons of fat-liquor. This 



224 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

fat-liquor when made with birch oil is excellent for colored 
Russia ; for black leather the birch oil may be omitted. 

Receipt No. 2. — For colored or black vegetable-tanned calf- 
skins : 

Potash Soft Soap 10 pounds. 

Best Neatsfoot Oil 4 gallons. 

French Moellen Degras 10 pounds. 

Boil the soap in twelve gallons of water. Cut the oil by 
pouring into it and stirring thoroughly four ounces of borax 
dissolved in a quart of boiling water ; then pour the oil into the 
soap and stir thoroughly. Then add the moellen degras to the 
oil and soap and stir again very thoroughly. Run in enough 
cold water to make fifty gallons of fat-liquor. Ten gallons is 
enough for fifty skins averaging ten square feet per skin. After 
the leather is dj^'ed black or colored, press out the surplus water 
and apply the fat-liquor at a temperature of 120 degrees Fahr., 
drumming the leather in the liquor forty minutes. Remove 
the leather from the drum, horse it up for some hours, then 
strike out and apply a coat of neatsfoot or other suitable oil 
and hang the skins up to dry. 

Fat-liquoring may be done after tanning and washing, the 
leather being then dried and subsequently dampened and 
colored. 

The drum should always be heated with live steam, the 
water drained out and the leather run in the drum a few min- 
utes to warm it before being given the fat-liquor. It is also 
always best to add fat-liquor in portions of a pailful at a time 
at intervals of five minutes until the requisite quantity has been 
given to the leather. 

Receipt No. j. — For palmetto and gambier-tanned skins, fat- 
liquored after tanning, use: 

Potash Soft Soap ij^ pounds, 

Moellen Degras i quart 

for no pounds of wet leather. Use at 120 degrees Fahr., and 
drum the leather fifty minutes, then wash it, strike it out and 
hang it up to dry. After the leather has been dry some time 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 22 5 

it can be sorted and finished into colors or black, or into patent 
leather, as may be desired. 

Receipt No. /. — To make a barrel of fat-liquor for black or 
colored leather use : 

Potash or Chip Soap 4 pounds. 

Sal Soda 1 1^ pounds. 

Treated Cod Oil 7 gallons. 

Moellon Degras i gallon. 

Prepare the fat-liquor in the usual manner and use it at a 
temperature of 115 degrees Fahr. A barrel of liquor will fat- 
liquor three hundred pounds of leather. 

Receipt No. 5. — This is a good fat-liquor for combination 
tanned skins : 

Potash Soft Soap 25 pounds. 

English Sod Oil 50 pounds. 

Treated Neatsfoot Oil 1^2 gallons. 

Boil the soap in twenty-five gallons of water until dissolved ; 
then add the oils and stir thoroughly. A few pounds of de- 
gras may also be added. Enough cold water is then run into 
the barrel to make fifty gallons of fat-liquor. Twenty gallons 
of this fat-liquor is required by one hundred pounds of dry 
leather ; the exact quantity to be used depends, however, upon 
the nature of the tannage. Some tannages require less fat- 
liquor than others and a smaller quantity will often produce the 
desired softness. 

Giving Two Applications of Fat-Liquor. — In the manufac- 
ture of colored leather excellent results are obtained by drying 
the leather after washing and pressing from the tan and then 
drumming the skins in a solution of alum and salt to cleanse 
the grain and improve the color and texture of the leather, 
then applying the first fat-liquor, which should be preferably 
.sulphonated oil. The leather is now dried, dampened, colored, 
dried again and then given the second and main fat-liquoring 
which may be either sulphonated oil or an emulsion of soap, 
oil and degras. 

Skins for black and colored leather, imitation kangaroo and 
dull and glazed boarded grains are also satisfactorily fat-liquored 
15 



226 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

twice, once after they have been retanned, pressed and sam- 
mied, and again after coloring. 

After the leather has been retanned, pressed and shaved, it 
should be uniformly sammied and fat-liquored and then dried. 
Imitation kangaroo and dull printed grains are generally yel- 
low-backed before the second application of fat-liquor. Blue- 
backed leather is generally dyed or stained on the flesh and 
dyed on the grain afterward. Colored leather is usually given 
the second fat-liquor after it has been colored. 

Fat-liquoring is one of the most important processes in the 
manufacture of leather. Only the best grades of oil, soap and 
degras should be used so that the leather will not be greasy or 
gummy, or apt to spew after it is finished. 

Sumac Mordant for Colors. 

Gambler, palmetto and combination-tanned calfskins in- 
tended for colored leather, after being fat-liquored are dried 
out, then moistened in warm water in a tub and placed in 
piles for a number of hours to become thoroughly softened. 
To prepare them for any shade of color they are, preferably, 
milled in a drum in a solution of sumac prepared in the follow- 
ing manner: For sixty medium sides or ninety average calf- 
skins, one-half of a pailfuU of sumac is scalded in a closed vessel 
for two hours. To the sumac solution are added four pails of 
water and one gallon of lactracine. The temperature of this 
liquor, when it is applied to the skins or sides, should be 
lOO degrees Fahr., and the leather should be run in it for 
twenty-five minutes. This prepares the leather for the process 
of coloring, and is a very practical method, simple and easy to 
use and always productive of good results. It can be applied 
to skins and sides tanned in any process or combination of 
processes. 

In some instances it is not necessary to use sumac for the 
purpose of freshening up the leather, it depending upon the 
nature of the tannage and the condition of the leather. It is 
always good practice, however, to thoroughly soften the stock 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 22/ 

before applying any dye to it ; and it is also well to wash the 
leather in warm water in order to remove from it all the par- 
ticles of dirt, dust and tannin. 

In the treatment of leather that has acquired a dark color 
from the tannage, it is advantageous to bleach the stock before 
coloring it. Practical methods of bleaching leather are given 
in another chapter. They produce good results when applied 
to calfskins. 

When leather has been freshened up in a sumac bath, it is 
apt to contain uncombined tannin, which has a tendency to 
cause uneven and cloudy coloring. To prevent such a result, 
tartar emetic or antimonine may be used. In using either of 
these articles, the leather is first milled in a sumac liquor. 
This may consist of one pound of extract of sumac in the re- 
quired quantity of water, at lOO degrees Fahr., for four dozen 
medium-sized skins or thiry-two average sides. In this liquor 
the leather is drummed for twenty minutes, then for the quan- 
tity of stock mentioned one-half of a pound of either tartar 
emetic or antimonine may be dissolved in warm water and 
added to the leather and sumac, and the drumming continued 
twenty minutes longer, when the grain will be cleared and 
ready for the aniline dye. No bichromate of potash or other 
setting agent is required, as the aniline will be fixed firmly 
and evenly upon the leather. The leather should be washed 
off before it is colored. 

Titanium Mordant for Colors. — Take one hundred pounds of 
dry leather and dampen and soften it with warm water. Pre- 
pare a solution of eight ounces of titanium-potassium oxalate 
with warm water and drum the skins in the same ten or fifteen 
minutes. This gives a yellow-brown base. Run the liquor out 
of the drum, put in a solution of suitable acid aniline dye and 
color the leather to the shade wanted. Then wash and fat- 
liquor the leather, and dry it for finishing. 

If basic dyes are to be used, it is best to wash the leather 
after running it in the titanium solution and then to color it 
with the aniline dye. Other suggestions in regard to coloring 



228 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

the leather are given in the Section on side leathers and also 
in that on sheepskins. 

The Coloring and Finishing of Vegetable and Combi- 
nation-tanned Calfskins. 

After becoming thoroughly dried out the skins may be kept 
in storage for some time before they are colored and finished. 
When the coloring and finishing operations are to be carried 
out, the dried leather is moistened in warm water and placed 
in piles for twenty-four hours to become thoroughly moistened 
through and soft. For black leather the flesh is next colored 
blue or yellow, as may be desired. 

For a Blue Flesh a solution of logwood is most commonly 
used. To the logwood solution may be added a few ounces of 
blue aniline or of nigrosine. Of logwood extract, paste or 
powder, one pound of the same may be boiled with a few 
ounces of borax or sal soda in ten gallons of water and used 
for each one hundred pounds of leather. The leather is milled 
in the color solution for twenty minutes, then removed from 
the drum and dyed black upon the grain with logwood and 
striker. A stronger solution than that mentioned above may 
be used, and after the leather has been drumming in it for 
twenty minutes, it may be spread on a table or run through 
a machine and the color developed by the application of the 
striker. This method gives a blue flesh and black grain. 

A Good Blue Flesh is obtained from the use of blue nigro- 
sine. For twenty-four skins of medium size, eight ounces of 
nigrosine are used. This is dissolved in boiling water and 
applied to the leather at a temperature of 90 degrees Fahr. 
Running the leather in this liquor for twenty minutes enables it 
to absorb all the dye, after which it may be blacked upon the 
grain, oiled off and dried out. 

For Yellow Flesh the stock should be uniformly and thor- 
oughly moistened. One-half pailfull of sumac is scalded 
for two hours in a closed vessel. For use, one gallon of 
lactracine and four pails of water are added to the sumac 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 229 

liquor. This quantity of liquor is sufficient for ninety calfskins 
of average size. The temperature of the liquor should be from 
90 to 100 degrees Fahr., and the leather milled in the solution 
for thirty minutes. Then the skins should be piled up on both 
sides of the drum and the color solution added. One pound of 
Yellow S. is dissolved in one-half barrel of water. After the 
■drumming in the sumac, four pailfuls of the color liquor are 
added to the sumac bath and the leather is drummed therein 
for ten minutes, or until the latter is permeated with the yellow 
dye. The grain is next blacked with logwood and striker, then 
well set out, oiled lightly and the leather dried out and finished 
in any desired way. 

Dyeing Leather Black Upon the Grain. 

Some form of logwood is generally used. Logwood chips, 
logwood extract in paste, and solid and liquid forms are used ; 
also the powdered products of logwood such as Hemolin XS 
Patd., Hsematoxylin, and Haemetine. The use of logwood 
chips in leather dyeing has been greatly superseded during 
the last few years by the use of logwood in powder and extract 
iorms. The results gotten from the use of these articles are 
better and more uniform than the results obtained from the 
use of chips, since the extracts and powders, and especially the 
latter, are always uniform in strength and quality. Logwood 
paste is very excellent so long as it does not get frozen. 
When once frozen the color produced is not satisfactory, being 
a muddy grey black. This trouble is not met with in using 
the powders. Logwood chips require a very thorough and 
long boiling to get all the color extracted. 

When the logwood paste is used from six to eight pounds of 
the same are dissolved in forty gallons of warm water with one- 
half pound of borax or sal-soda, and brought to the boiling 
point. This liquor is very strong and may be reduced in 
strength by the addition of more water. Hemolin and other 
powdered dyes are used in the proportion of about six pounds 
of the powder to a barrel of water. The dye is first boiled for 



230 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

a few minutes in one-half barrel of water and the barrel is then 
filled up. From one to two pounds of borax or sal-soda may be 
added to the dye liquor. A few fustic chips may also be 
boiled with it and serve to intensify the color. 

The leather may be blacked in a drum, on a machine, on 
tables, or by being folded and passed through the dye in boxes 
or trays. It is first given the logwood dye, and then the 
striker. Sometimes two or three applications of the dye are 
required to get a satisfactory black, according to the strength 
of the liquors. 

Strikers. — ( i ) Four and one-half pounds of copperas, and 
one and one-half pounds of blue vitriol, dissolved in one-half bar- 
rel of water by boiling. Then the barrel is filled up with water. 
For use in machine dyeing, twelve pounds of copperas and four 
pounds of blue vitriol are used for each barrel of water. To 
this are added one and one-half pounds of ground nutgalls, and 
one pound of epsom salts to each six pounds of copperas and 
blue vitriol combined. 

(2) Nine pounds of copperas, four ounces sulphate of mag- 
nesia, six ounces acetic acid and one ounce nutgalls, mixed 
together and dissolved by boiling in ten gallons of water, and 
then turned into a barrel, and enough water added to make 
forty gallons. 

(3) Three gallons iron liquor, two pounds of copperas, dis- 
solved and mixed together. Three quarters of a pound of 
verdigris dissolved in two quarts of vinegar and added to the 
copperas and iron liquor. In place of verdigris, three quarters 
of a pound of blue-stone dissolved in two quarts boiling water 
may be used. The liquor should be well stirred and allowed 
to settle, and the clear liquor only used. 

(4) Nine pounds of copperas, one-fourth pound of epsom 
salts, six ounces of acetic acid and one ounce of nutgalls. 
Forty gallons of water. 

Dyeing with Logwood and Titanium Salts. — To color calf- 
skins a deep black the use of titanium-potassium oxalate is 
recommended. One hundred pounds of dry leather require 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 23 1 

about ten ounces of the titanium salt. Dampen the dry leather 
and run it in a solution of five ounces of the salt for ten min- 
utes Then put alkaline logwood liquor into the drum and 
run the leather in it twenty minutes. Another solution of five 
ounces of titanium salt is then added to the liquor in the drum 
and the drumming is continued ten minutes, when the leather 
will be found to be colored, on both flesh and grain, a very 
satisfactory color. If the leather has not been fat-liquored, it 
should now be washed, fat-liquored, dried and finished. 

Russet and Fancy Leather Calfskins. 

For vegetable-tanned calfskins that are to be colored fancy 
shades and used for fancy leather purposes, only the finest 
skins should be selected ; they should be free from butcher 
cuts and other imperfections as much as possible. Light 
weight skins are to be preferred. 

Soaking, liming and bating are done in the same manner as 
for chrome tanning. To get the skins soft and fine, lime and 
red arsenic are used. Bating is done with bacterial bate; and 
after bating, the skins are pickled. To lime and bate the 
skins in the following described manner produces fine, soft 
leather that tans and colors satisfactorily: Soak green-salted 
skins twenty-four hours in clean, cold water; then wash 
them in a mill for fifteen minutes and next soak them for 
twelve to eighteen hours so that they will be perfectly clean 
and soft when they are put into the lime. Trimming and 
fleshing should be done after soaking and in a careful manner, 
after which the skins are ready to be limed. The first lime 
should contain two pounds of lime for every hundred pounds 
of skins. Slake the lime very thoroughly and mix it into the 
water in the vat or paddle. On the second day, haul the skins 
out, plunge the liquor and put them back into it. On the 
third day, after hauling the skins out, add two pounds of lime 
to the liquor and put the skins back. On the fourth day, haul 
the skins out and put them back; and on the fifth day add 
three pounds of lime and a pound and a half of red arsenic, 



2 32 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

thoroughly slaked together, to the lime liquor. All that 
needs to be done on the sixth day is hauling the skins out, 
plunging the liquor, and putting them back. On the seventh 
day, after hauling the skins out, add three pounds of lime and 
one pound and a half of red arsenic, warm the liquor to 75 
degrees Fahr., and put the skins back. On the morning of the 
eighth day, haul the skins out, heat to 75 degrees Fahr. and 
put the skins back. Unhairing should be done on the ninth 
day, when the hair should come off easily. After the skins 
have been unhaired, wash them for ten minutes in cold water; 
then reflesh them and work them for fine hair. This process 
of liming produces soft, supple, fine-grained skins. Bating 
should be done with bacterial bate, such as chicken manure or 
Puerine, or with a fermented lactic acid bath. 

When manure is used, the bating liquor is warmed to 90 
degrees Fahr. ; the skins are put in and the paddle is run for 
one hour. Then allow the skins to rest an hour, after which 
paddle them thirty minutes at a time at intervals of one hour 
until they are low and soft. They should now be taken from 
the bate, washed in warm water for five minutes and then 
pickled. The manure should have been soaking a few days 
before it is used. For every one hundred skins one bushel of 
the soaked manure should be used. 

Bating with lactic acid in the following manner is more 
cleanly and simple than bating with manure and really a very 
good process: Heat water in a paddle to 120 degrees Fahr., 
and put into it two pails full of dry bran and let it stand over 
night. The next morning bring the temperature up to 95 
degrees Fahr. ; add one-half pint of latic acid for every hun- 
dred pounds of skins. After stirring the liquor very thor- 
oughly put the skins in and then add another half-pint of lactic 
acid, making one pint for each hundred pounds of skins. Run 
the paddle wheel for three or four hours, then take the skins 
out, wash them in warm water and pickle them. A clear grain 
is essential on fancy leather; and this metliod of bating, fol- 
lowed by washing and pickling, makes the grain clear and even 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 233 

and the skins soft and yet plump. Pickling, which is also 
essential for fancy leather, is done in a paddle wheel. For 
every one hundred pounds of skins use fifty pounds of salt and 
one and one-fourth pounds of sulphuric acid. This quantity 
of salt is for the first lot of skins only. For the next lot of 
skins and all lots following, ten pounds of salt and one and one- 
fourth pounds of acid are sufficient. Run the skins in the 
paddle two hours and let them lie in the liquor a few hours or 
over night. Then let them drain over horses for twenty-four 
hours before tanning them. 

Vegetable Tanning Processes, — Calfskins for fancy leather 
purposes are tanned in numerous ways. Quebracho extract, 
in either solid or liquid form, is in common use. It produces 
soft, tough leather. It is also combined with hemlock and 
palmetto extracts. A practical way to tan calfskins with que- 
bracho extract is carried out as follows : A quantity of the ex- 
tract is boiled with water until it is dissolved. Solid extract 
should be dissolved in a tub containing a false screen bottom 
which prevents the extract adhering to a solid surface. The 
liquid extract should be dissolved in water standing at r8o de- 
grees Fahr. The resulting solutions from both grades of ex- 
tract should be stirred well and allowed to cool down gradually 
before being used. It is a great mistake to suddenly chill the 
extract solution by running it into cold water or vat-liquors. 

Skins should always be started in a weak liquor; and having 
the liquor too strong and thereby drawing the grain must be 
■carefully guarded against during the entire process. The sus- 
pension method, by which the skins are not violently agitated, 
produces the plumpest and best tanned leather, especially 
along the sides and in the flanks. The skins are held in sus- 
pension by tacking them on wooden strips, using galvanized 
iron or copper nails so as not to stain them. 

The first liquor, in which tanning begins, is quite weak. Its 
strength should not exceed 10 degrees barkometer. Salt must 
be added to the tan liquors to prevent the acid in the skins 
from doing any injury. As the tanning progresses the liquor 



234 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

is Strengthened until it reaches 20 to 25 degrees towards- 
the end of the process. The length of time required to ac- 
complish the tanning of the skins depends upon their thickness 
and the strength of the liquor. It is better to tan slowly so as 
to get a fine, smooth grain than to hasten the process and get 
a rough, coarse grain. When the tanning is completed, the 
skins should be washed, pressed and fat-liquored. From seven 
to fourteen days is usually the time required to fully tan the 
skins. 

Hemlock and quebracho extracts combined make a good 
tannage. The quebracho tones down the harshness of the 
hemlock and makes soft leather of good color. The taa 
liquors should be about two-thirds quebracho to one-third 
hemlock; and this proportion should be kept up during the 
process. The strength of the liquors is increased daily until it 
is about 25 degrees barkometer and the skins are fully tanned. 

Quebracho and palmetto extracts make a very desirable 
upper and fancy leather tannage. The correct proportions are 
seventy-five per cent, quebracho and twenty-five per cent, pal- 
metto. The leather produced by the combination is plump,^ 
full and mellow ; and owing to the rapid tanning qualities of 
both extracts, tanning is completed in a comparatively short 
time. The process is carried out by suspending the skins in 
weak liquor, say 8 to 10 degrees barkometer, and gradually 
increasing the strength of the same until the skins are tanned. 
This combination may also be used for retanning hemlock 
leather. For some purposes it may be advisable to modify the 
combination, but for most purposes three- fourths quebracho 
and one-fourth palmetto will be found satisfactory. 

Fat- Liquor ill g. — For the purpose of making the leather soft 
and supple some sort of grease is required. The best results 
are obtained when an emulsion of oil and soap, or of soap and 
moellon degras, or a solution of sulphated oil is applied to the 
skins. Any good fat-liquor may be used. A good one is 
made of: 



IHE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 235 

Palermo Fig Soap * 10 pounds. 

Neatsfoot Oil 4 gallons. 

Borax i}^ pounds. 

Dissolve the borax in ten gallons of hot water in a clean 
barrel. Put in the soap and boil with steam until dissolved. 
Then add the oil and continue boiling for fifteen minutes ; then 
add sufficient water to make twenty gallons of liquor. Give 
the leather just enough to make it very soft without being 
greasy, and drum it in the liquor for forty minutes. Then 
strike the skins out on the flesh side and hang them up to dry. 

Another excellent fat-liquor consists of five pounds of soap 
and nine pints of moellon degras, in sufficient water, say one- 
half barrel, for four hundred and fifty pounds of leather. 
When the skins are tanned, remove them from the tan liquor 
and wash them in lukewarm water; then press them. Heat 
the drum with live steam, put the skins in and start the drum." 
Put the fat-liquor in through the hollow axle and run the 
drum for forty minutes. Then open the door and let water 
run on the skins to wash them for ten minutes. Hang the 
leather up to dry. When dry, let it lie in the dry condition 
as long as possible before finishing it. Then dampen the 
skins, shave, color, and dry them for the final finishing. Good 
leather is also made by drying the skins after tanning, then 
dampening, shaving and coloring them, fat-liquoring after color- 
ing, and then drying them for finishing. The use of sulphated 
oil is recom.mended for this kind of leather. The skins may be 
given two applications of the oil in the following manner: 
After they are washed and pressed from the tan liquor, drum 
them in a solution of the oil in warm water, and dry them out. 
When they are dry, the skins are dampened and colored, and 
then given another application of the sulphated oil, after which 
they are dried and finished. 

Preparation for Coloring. — After the skins have been dry for 
some time, they are sorted and colored. Those that are light 
in color, clear of grain and free from imperfections, are colored 
the lightest and most delicate shades. Those that are not suit- 
able for colors are dyed black. The skins are drummed for 



236 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

thirty minutes in a sumac liquor to freshen up the grain. They 
are then struck out and shaved, and are then ready to be 
colored. 

If the skins are of light and clear grain they do not need to 
be bleached ; but where the tan has made them dark a bleach- 
ing treatment is necessary. Borax and sulphuric acid are 
used both for plain russet and colored leather, followed by a 
sumac bath, as described under bleaching. The leather is 
always given the sumac bath whether it is bleached or not. 
One to two pounds of sumac in water at 105 degrees Fahr., 
is enough for one dozen skins. After they have run in the 
sumac bath, the skins should be rinsed in warm water to re- 
move adhering sumac, and they are then ready to be dyed. 
■Coloring may be done in a drum, in a paddle vat, or by brush- 
ing the dye on by hand. The drum method is in most gen- 
eral use. 

A very satisfactory way to treat the leather is to wash and 
press it after tanning, then to give it a light application of sul- 
phated oil, and dry it out. The dry leather is then dampened, 
bleached or not as it seems to require, treated with sumac, 
colored and re-fat-liquored, and again dried. 

Coloring. — For one hundred pounds of skins weighed in the 
dry condition, dissolve eight ounces of titanium salts in warm 
water and run theni in the solution for fifteen minutes. This 
gives a yellow base on which any shade of color can be ob- 
tained. Run the liquor out of the drum ; put in the acid ani- 
line solution according to the shade wanted and drum the skins 
in it for twenty minutes. Then wash them, give them the 
second application of fat-liquor and hang them up to dry. 
When the skins are fat-liquored only once, they may be so 
treated either immediately after tanning or after they have been 
colored. 

When basic dyes are to be applied, it is well to wash the 
skins after the titanium bath, then to run them in the basic dye 
solution to bring to the shade wanted, and then to wash and 
fat-liquor them. 



THE MANaFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 237 

All shades of tan, brown, oxblood, red, green, blue, etc., are 
easily obtained on a titanium mordant ; and the colors are fast, 
deep and well developed. After coloring and fat-liquoring, 
when fat-liquoring is done after coloring, the skins are struck 
out carefully and thoroughly, and either hung up or tacked on 
frames to dry. 

Black Leather. — If black leather is wanted, the skins are taken 
after the first dying, moistened, shaved and run in sumac and 
then colored. An excellent color is secured by using the fol- 
lowing process : Drum one hundred pounds of leather, weighed 
dry, in a solution of five or six ounces of titanium salt in warm 
water, for ten minutes. Then pour a slightly alkaline logwood- 
fustic liquor into the drum and run the drum twenty minutes ; 
then add to the contents of the drum another solution of five or 
six ounces of titanium salt and run the drum ten minutes 
longer. If the skins are being treated with sulphated oil, wash 
and fat-liquor them, and dry them out. If they have received 
no fat-liquor at all, wash them and apply the fat-liquor, and 
then dry them out. This method of coloring carries the dye 
deeply into or right through the leather, which is usually con- 
sidered desirable on this class of leather. Logwood liquor is 
made by boiling one and a half pounds of logwood crystals and 
four ounces of salts of tartar or of borax in ten gallons of water. 
To the solution are added four ounces of fustic paste. The 
liquor is then stirred and allowed to cool before it is used. 

Other methods of coloring are to run the leather in the log- 
wood liquor and then develop the color with copperas and 
bluestone or other iron liquor, either in a drum or by running 
the leather in the logwood, and then applying the iron liquor 
to the grain only by hand or machine. This leaves a blue 
flesh and black grain. 

Aniline-black may be used with good results. Blue-black 
the skins by running them in a solution of eight ounces of 
methyl violet for two hundred and fifty pounds of leather.. 
Then fat-liquor or re-fat-liquor them in the drum; next run 
in solution of aniline black with green cast, four to six ounces,. 



238 PRACTICAL TANNING, 

and solution of titanium salt four ounces, and drum from ten to 
fifteen minutes. Strike the leather out and hang it up to dry. 

Finishing. — Finishing consists of staking, tacking, seasoning, 
glazing, ironing or graining the leather. For smooth glazed 
finish, the skins are staked, tacked and seasoned; then glazed. 
A colorless seasoning is used on colored skins. The season- 
ing is put on with a sponge or sheepskin pad clipped close and 
even; and it should be put on evenly and rubbed into the 
leather. When it is dry, the skins are glazed. For dull finish, 
they are rolled or ironed. If very soft leather and smooth, 
bright finish are wanted, the skins are seasoned and glazed, 
staked, seasoned and glazed sgain, and perhaps staked again, 
seasoned and glazed the third time. Boarded finish is obtained 
by graining and printing the leather. Embossed grains are 
obtained by embossing the leather with any desired grain. 
The leather, when finished, should be soft and pliable, and 
tough enough to stand pulling and bending without injury. 

Bleaching Hemlock-Tajined Skins. — These skins can be given 
a lighter shade resembling oak calf by bleaching them in 
sumac. They may be drummed in warm sumac liquor or they 
may be allowed to rest in it several hours. The fat-liquoring 
may be done with a mixture of soap, oil and degras, but the 
skins do not require very much fat-liquor. If they are to be 
colored, it is advantageous to treat them with sumac and no 
other bleaching is necessary. If the leather is very dark and 
dirty, treatment with borax and sulphuric acid should precede 
the treatment with sumac. The exact treatment that the skins 
require must be determined by their condition. For some 
the sumac treatment is sufficient while others require the 
borax and acid treatment also. Hemlock-quebracho tanned 
skins have good color, and very little or no bleaching at all is 
required. 

Light Russet Color on Leather. 

A light shade of russet is secured on vegetable-tanned leather 
by first bleaching with borax and lactic acid, then applying a 



THE MANUFACTURE OF CALFSKIN LEATHERS. 239 

fustic liquor and next coloring with Philadelphia yellow and 
Nankin yellow. This process is especially suitable for com- 
bination-tanned leather. 

To prepare the bleaching liquor, put one bushel of rye bran 
into a barrel filled with warm water and let it ferment and be- 
come sour ; it is then ready for use. Use three pails of the bran 
liquor and four pounds of borax for one hundred and fifty 
pounds of leather that has been fat-liquored and dried. 
Dampen the leather with warm water, and when it is soft, put 
it into a drum together with nine pails of water at 90 degrees 
Fahr. Add the borax dissolved in hot water to the water in 
the drum, and run the leather in the solution ten or fifteen min- 
utes. Then throw in the bran liquor and run the drum fifteen 
minutes longer. The borax cleanses and saponifies whatever 
fat there may be in the grain of the leather, and the lactic acid 
opens up the grain so that bright and clear coloring is obtained. 
A weak solution of sulphuric acid may be used in place of the 
bran liquor but it is more liable to weaken the fibers of the 
leather. 

After the treatment with borax and bran liquor or acid, the 
leather should be washed very thoroughly and given the fustic 
liquor. Dissolve two pails of fustic extract and two quarts of salt 
in a barrel half full of boiling water; then fill the barrel up with 
water. For the one hundred and fifty pounds of leather use three 
pails of fustic liquor and eight ounces of alum. Dissolve the 
alum in a little hot water and add the solution to the fustic liquor, 
then add the fustic-alum liquor to nine pails of water heated to 
90 degrees Fahr. Drum the leather in this solution fifteen or 
twenty minutes. Dissolve eighteen ounces of Philadelphia 
yellow, thirteen ounces of Nankin yellow and six ounces of 
cream yellow. Add nine pails of water and use the solution 
at no degrees Fahr., running the leather in it twenty minutes. 
Use alum to set the color. Dissolve a double handful of alum 
and add it to the water in which the leather is rinsed after 
coloring. Rinse the leather, dry and finish it. Leather that 
has not been fat-liquored may be cleared with alum and salt, 



240 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

then drummed in fustic liquor and colored as above directed. 
After coloring, the leather is hung up and dried, then damp- 
ened and fat- liquored, dried and finished. This method of 
treating the leather produces a light, uniform russet color. 

Dark Russet Color on Leather. 

A dark russet color can be obtained by applying the follow- 
ing process to one hundred and fifty pounds of combination- 
tanned leather dried out after tanning and without being fat- 
liquored : 

Dampen the leather with warm water, then put it into a drum 
with seven pails of water heated to 90 degrees Fahr. Dissolve 
three quarts of alum and five quarts of salt in three gallons of 
hot water and add the solution to the water. Drum the leather 
in the liquor fifteen minutes, then wash it, and it is ready to be 
colored. For this purpose run it in a solution of nine pails of 
water at 90 degrees Fahr., to which three-quarters of a pail of 
logwood and three pails of fustic liquor have been added. At the 
end of twenty minutes stop the drum and drain the liquor out. 
Dissolve in boiling water twenty-four ounces of bronze No. 2 
and three ounces of acid orange; add the solution to eight 
pails of water at iio degrees Fahr. Drum the leather in this 
solution twenty minutes; then stop the drum and drain the 
liquor off. In the meantime dissolve in boiling water one 
pound of Nankin yellow Y, one-half pound of cream yellow 
and two ounces of Bismarck Brown B. Add the solution to 
seven pails of water at 1 10 degrees Fahr. and drum the leather 
in the liquor twenty minutes ; then drain the liquor ofif and 
hang the leather up to dry before anything else is done to it. 
Then take the dry leather, dampen it with warm water and, 
when dampened through, and soft, apply a liberal quantity 
of fat- liquor. Set the leather out on both sides and then hang 
it up or tack it on frames to dry for finishing. 



SECTION FOUR. 
The Coloring and Finishing of India-tanned Skins. 

India-tanned sheep and goat skins in various colors and 
finishes are used for shopping and traveling bags, belts, collar 
boxes, bookbinding, carriage trimming, linings, and in the 
manufacture of leather novelties and specialties. These skins 
have considerable firmness and durability and yet are soft and 
pliable and, when colored and finished, cannot be excelled by 
any other leather. They can be finished in heavy and light 
weights, with any kind of grain, in all colors, glazed and 
dull, smooth, grained and embossed ; they can be made into 
firm or soft leather as desired. The large heavy skins are used 
for suit cases and bags, the smaller ones for other purposes 
where light, soft leather is required. Bookbinders use India 
skins in a variety of colors, the staples being dark greens, dark 
blues, dark wines and blacks, with pebble grain. These skins 
are colored and finished and then split into the desired sub- 
stance, as bookbinders' leather must be fairly thin to cover the 
backs and corners of books. 

In the preparation of India-tanned skins for coloring and 
finishing, it is necessary to first thoroughly soften and wash 
them so as to remove from them all surplus tannin, particles of 
dirt and dust. Before washing is begun, it is best to soak the 
skins in warm water, then let them lie in piles for a few hours 
to soften. As soon as they are wet and pliable, they are 
transferred to a suitable drum and washed. The water used 
should be at a temperature of 90 degrees Fahr. ; and its efficacy 
is increased by dissolving and adding to it some borax or 
washing soda, in quantity from two to three pounds for each 
hundred gallons of water. The skins are washed in this solu- 
16 ( 241 ) 



242 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

tion for fifteen or twenty minutes, when they are washed in 
clean water and made ready for further treatment. 

The skins as they are received from India are imperfectly 
tanned, of a dark color and quite hard. In order to complete 
the tanning and to improve the quality of the leather by mak- 
ing it softer and better adapted for fancy colors, it is necessary 
to remove from it some of the original tanning material, and to 
replace it with one that makes soft and light-colored leather. 
For light-colored leather it is also necessary to bleach the 
skins with sulphuric acid after the borax bath. 

A good method of treatment is to wash the skins in borax 
water, next in clean warm water, and then to treat them 
with a weak bath containing sulphuric acid. The borax 
used in washing, while it cleanses the skins perfectly, also 
darkens the color; the acid bath brightens up the leather. 
Very thorough washing is necessary afterwards to remove the 
acid. Other acids may be used in place of sulphuric with good 
results. To a barrel of water enough acid should be added to 
bring the solution to the degree of strength that will bite the 
tongue when tasted. From two to three ounces per gallon of 
water may be used. Drum the skins in the acid solution, then 
after washing, for twenty minutes, remove them and run the 
water out of the drum. Then wash the skins until no acid can 
be detected in the water coming from the drum. They are 
now ready to be treated with sumac. 

The sumac liquor should be quite strong and at a tempera- 
ture of 105 degrees Fahr. ; and the leather can be treated either 
in a drum or paddle vat. One to two pounds of sumac may 
be used for each dozen skins. The}' are run in this sumac 
liquor from thirty minutes to an hour; after this they should 
be washed in warm water to remove adhering sumac, struck 
out with a slicker and hung up to dry. When they have dried, 
they can be colored any shade of color. Coloring can also be 
done immediately after washing from the sumac, but best re- 
sults are secured by drying the skins first and then coloring 
them. 



COLORING AND FINISHING OF INDIA-TANNED SKINS. 243 

In place of suinac, quermos extract may be used ; also pal- 
metto. Quermos produces a color equal to sumac, and is 
stainless. It is used in the same manner as sumac. After 
washing from the retan, the skins have a nice russet color, and 
they can be finished without coloring and used for some 
purposes, or colored with aniline dye. 

Borax not only removes some of the tanning material, but also 
washes out much of the natural grease that the skins contain. 
The acid bath brightens up the leather, and the sumac liquor 
replaces the tan washed out, thus retanning the leather and 
making it softer, and prepares the grain for the subsequent 
coloring process. 

Some tanners make use of hyposulphite of soda in the wash 
bath in place of borax. Ten pounds of it are dissolved in a 
barrel of hot water, and the solution is used at no degrees 
Fahr. A few minutes' washing afterwards is all the skins 
require. 

Coloring the Skins. — To prepare the dry leather for coloring, 
the skins are moistened with warm water in a drum or tub. 
One way to color the skins is as follows : Run them in a drum 
with warm water until they are soft and opened out. Then 
pour into the drum, through the axle, from two to five ounces 
of tartar emetic for each dozen skins, according to their size, 
and run the drum fifteen minutes. This clears the grain and 
sets the dye applied afterwards. Drain the water out of the 
drum and run in the dye liquor. ' 

Another and most excellent process is to drum the skins in 
a warm solution of titanium-potassium oxalate (eight ounces 
for one hundred pounds of dry leather) for ten or fifteen min- 
utes, then rinse the leather and apply the dye. This process 
is recommended, as it mordants with a titanium tannate, 
itself a yellowish shade, on which all shades of tan, brown, 
green, blue, and maroon can be readily obtained. The tita- 
nium solution can be applied in a drum, as directed, or in a 
paddle-vat or a tray, or by brushing on with brushes. After 
running off the liquor, a slight rinsing in warm water is advis- 



244 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

able, but not always necessary. If acid dye is to be applied, 
the rinsing may be omitted ; if basic dye is to be used, it is 
necessary to wash the skins only when the mordant bath has 
not been fully exhausted. If the mordant is all taken up, 
washing can be omitted, the liquor being run out of the drum 
and the dye solution put in. For bag, hat, pocketbook and 
bookbinders' leather, in which India skins are finished, this 
process of coloring is quicker and cheaper than any other. 
After the skins are dyed to the shade wanted, wash and finish 
them. 

Dyeing the Skins Black. — India-tanned skins can be dyed 
through flesh and grain by the use of logwood and titanium 
salts. A fairly strong logwood liquor, slightly alkaline, should 
be used, and ten ounces of titanium-potassium oxalate for one 
hundred pounds of dry leather. Dissolve half of the titanium 
salt and drum the leather in the solution ten minutes. Then 
put the logwood liquor into the drum and run the skins in it 
fifteen minutes. Finally, to complete the process, pour the 
rest of the titanium salt in solution into the drum and continue 
the drumming ten minutes; then wash the skins. No copperas 
or iron liquor is used, as logwood and the titanium salt dye a 
deep, permanent black. It is advantageous to use logwood 
crystals and to add a little fustic paste to the liquor to intensify 
the color. 

To color flesh and grain black with aniline dyes, the skins 
should be drummed in a solution of methyl violet and then in 
an aniline black solution. Two hundred and fifty pounds of 
dry leather require eight ounces of methyl violet aniline and 
six ounces of aniline black. Drum in the violet solution 
twenty minutes, next in the aniline black liquor to which 
four ounces of titanium-potassium oxalate in solution have 
been added, for fifteen minutes, then wash and finish. The sea- 
soning used in the finish should contain one pound of titanium 
salt to the barrel of seasoning. The aniline black should have 
a green cast to get the best black. Skins that are to be fat- 
liquored should be fat-liquored after drumming in the violet 
aniline, and then dyed with the black aniline. 



COLORING AND FINISHING OP' INDIA-TANNED SKINS. 245 

The flesh can be colored blue by the use of blue nigrosine. 
For each dozen skins two or three ounces of the nigrosine are 
dissolved in hot water and applied at a temperature of iio 
degrees Fahr. The skins are drummed in the solution twenty 
minutes; then blacked upon the grain, by hand or on a ma- 
chine, with logwood and iron liquor or with logwood and 
titanium salts, rinsed off and dried. 

The skins can also be drummed in an alkaline logwood 
liquor until colored, then spread upon a table or run through 
a machine and the grain blacked with iron liquor. This 
method of coloring also produces blue flesh and black-grain, 
which is usually considered desirable. 

Black Glazed Finish. — The dried skins, after staking, are 
ready to be finished. They can be glazed, finished smooth, 
dull, grained, or embossed as the finisher may desire. A good 
luster and soft feel is obtained by seasoning with the follow- 
ing dressing, and then glazing : 

Egg Albumen i pound. 

Orchil I pint. 

Sperm Oil i quart. 

Logwood Liquor 6 gallons. 

Dissolve the egg albumen in a quart of rain-water; strain 

into a large bucket or can, and add the orchil, sperm oil and 

logwood liquor, stirring the mixture very thoroughly. To get 

a clear grain, dissolve one ounce of nigrosine in a gallon of 

water, add to this a small quantity of wood alcohol, and cover 

the skins with one coat. This should be done before the leather 

gets the first seasoning. When dry, apply the seasoning, dry, 

and glaze. An elegant glazed finish also results from the use 

of the following seasoning: 

Logwood Liquor 6 quarts. 

Blood 2 quarts. 

Orchil 1^ pint. 

Water I quart. 

Ammonia t^ pint. 

Milk I glassful. 

Apply a coat of this seasoning, and when it is dry, glaze ; 

then give another coat and glaze again. 



246 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Smooth Dull Finish. — A fine dull finish and soft, full skins 
are obtained in the following manner: After staking, the skins 
are given a coat of dressing, dried, then given another coat of 
dressing, dried and ironed ; then they are staked. The season- 
ing is made of: 

Ivory Soap i pound. 

Neaisfoot Oil i pint. 

Whole Flaxseed i;i pound. 

Beeswax 3 ounces. 

Black Nigrosine 3 ounces. 

Powdered Aloes i ounce. 

Wood Alcohol 1^ pint. 

Boil in two gallons of water for one-half hour, the soap, oil, 
flaxseed and beeswax. Cool and strain. Then dissolve the 
nigrosine in a quart of water and also the aloes in the wood 
alcohol and add both solutions, one after the other to the 
finish. This seasoning makes a fine dull finish with a soft, dry 
feel. 

Finish for Colored Skins. — Prepare a week before it is to be 
used the following dressing : 

Blood Albumen 4 ounces. 

<jranulated Gelatine 4 ouaces. 

White Varnish Shellac j'^ pint. 

Ammonia 1^ pint. 

Soak the albumen in a gallon of water over night. Boil the 
gelatine in a gallon of water and let it cool. Mix the shellac 
with the ammonia. Mix the solutions and add enough water 
to make three gallons of finish. Apply with a sponge and 
when dry, glaze. For plain, natural finish apply two coats and 
roll the skins while wet; then dry them; when dry, give 
another coat of the finish. If the ammonia evaporates before 
the dressing is used, colored skins will not be spotted. 

An egg albumen solution also produces a fine glazed finish. 
A good formula is : 

Water 5 gallons. 

Bichromate of Potash 1^ ounce. 

Acetic Acid i pint. 

Egg Albumen Solution i gallon. 

Mix all together and keep in a cool place. 



COLORING AND FINISHING OF INDIA-TANNED SKINS. 247 

India-tanned skins are finished in various ways. They are 
grained by a roller or embossed and then boarded up by hand. 
Some are glazed and grained. For some purposes, such as 
shopping bags, ladies' belts, etc., they are hand-grained three 
ways which give a round and half round grain. To get a 
diced grain, the skins are rolled with a straight grain roller 
and then grained crosswise; after this they are boarded up, 
which softens them and produces a uniform grain similar to 
box grain. The finish that is put on depends upon what pur- 
pose the leather is to be used for. Some skins are pebbled 
and then boarded ; others are glazed and brass-boarded, while 
large quantities are finished in smooth glaze and dull, and em- 
bossed grain. 

Retajtning with Chrome Liquor. — A method of retanning 
India skins with one-bath chrome liquor is as follows : The 
skins are first sorted and all superfluous parts trimmed off; 
they are then soaked and shaved. After shaving, they are 
drummed in warm water containing borax to wash out the 
tan and enable them to take the chrome liquor. They must be 
very thoroughly washed but not too much or the finished 
leather will suffer. When the washing is completed, they 
should be drained a few hours and then be given the chrome 
liquor. Any good one-bath liquor may be used, or a solution 
of chrome alum and soda may be prepared and the skins run 
in it. Sufficient water is put into the drum, and a quantity of 
salt added, and the skins are drummed in this solution one 
hour. Chrome liquor is then poured into the drum, a gallon 
at a time and the drumming continued until the skins are fully 
tanned. They are next washed in borax water for thirty 
minutes and then in clear water for the same length of time. 

The surplus water is now pressed or struck out and the leather 
is dyed. The flesh is colored blue and the grain black in the 
manner that has been described; the leather is then rinsed off, 
struck out and hung up to dry, and when dry staked, seasoned 
and finished in glaze or dull. 



248 practical tanning. 

Finishing India-tanned Skins into Book-Binding 
Leather. 

India-tanned skins that are to be colored and finished into 
leather for book-binders' use are first sorted, dampened and 
shaved. Shaving is done for the purpose of removing the 
loose flesh and making the skins smooth and of uniform thick- 
ness ; it is generally done on machines. After shaving it is 
necessary to v;ash them quite thoroughly in warm water con- 
taining sal soda, borax or soap to remove dirt and tanning 
material, after which, if they are to be colored light shades, they 
are drummed in a weak sulphuric acid bath, washed, and then 
retanned with sumac. A dilute solution of soap is very 
efifective in washing. Skins for dark colors do not need such 
thorough washing; bleaching also is unnecessary. After the 
treatment with sumac, the skins are in condition to be tanned. 

Coloring is usually done in a drum. A sufficient quantity of 
dye, heated to the temperature necessary to penetrate the 
skins, is put into the drum, and the latter is run until the 
leather has absorbed the dye and is colored. Sometimes it is 
necessary to put in a bottom color first, then to add another 
color and then another as each color is taken up by the skins. 
This method of dyeing colors the leather on both sides. Acid 
dyes are generally used, it being customary to add to the 
dye-bath a ^^uantity of sulphuric acid, generally equal in weight 
to about double that of the dye used. After the leather is 
colored it is rinsed or soaked in water for the purpose of re- 
moving the acid, but it is impossible to remove all the acid 
and it is what remains of it in the leather that causes book 
bindings to become weak and rotten. In place of sulphuric 
acid, formic acid, acetic acid or a little bisulphate of soda 
should be used. The use of formic acid is advisable. It is 
necessary to use just twice as much formic acid as of sulphuric, 
otherwise the treatment is the same. Formic acid is entirely 
evaporated after dyeing, hence has no harmful effects. 

The coloring may also be done by hand, but this method is 
slower and more expensive than drum-coloring. The leather. is 



COLORING AND FINISHING OF INDIA-TANNED SKINS. 249 

Spread out wet upon a table and a foundation color is brushed 
or rubbed in, then other dye is applied until the right shade 
of color has been obtained. In this process of coloring acid 
dyes are also used because they are faster to light than the 
basic dyes. 

Another way of coloring is to obtain marble effects. A 
manufacturer of book-binding leather describes his method of 
coloring for marble efTect and finishing in the following words : 
"The wet skins are rolled up into a round ball, each of them 
carefully arranged so that no very large part of it is hidden in 
the folds. This ball is then dropped into a bucket. The color, 
of course, takes only on the edges, the folds keeping the color 
out. This produces a beautiful coloring or marble effect, and 
is somewhat similar to the treeing of calf. The skins, when 
taken from the coloring wheel, are put out. Over a low, slant- 
ing bench, they are laid flat and men with glass slickers press 
them out in various directions, forcing out all the surplus color- 
ing material, and smoothing them out perfectly flat. This 
is a very necessary operation for if the old tan wrinkles are 
not worked out at this time they never will be. This work is 
also being done on a machine. The hand does the better 
work, though at much greater expense. 

"There are two ways of drying. One is to hang up in the 
hot room on nails, the other to tack out on boards. The latter 
one is the usual way for book work as the stretch must all be 
taken out and the skins left perfectly flat. In heat of about 
go to 100 degrees Fahr. it takes about one day to dry properly. 
Drying in heat cannot be done with sheepskins as they would 
become brittle. The method of finishing depends upon whether 
the proper color has been reached and whether a dull or a 
bright finish is wanted. 

" As some leathers are wanted very soft and exactly opposite 
to book stock, the skins for this finish are staked. Sometimes 
it is necessary to give them a little more color to fill the pores 
up a little, especially if the stock is made brighter. This is of 
the utmost importance to bookbinders for the same mixture 



250 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

that is put onto the leather at this time is what every book- 
binder should wash his books with. Boil a little flaxseed in 
water, then add a little milk and apply before ironing, allow- 
ing full time to dry. 

"There are three different ways of giving the leather a grain 
or the morocco finish as it is called. The best way, of course,, 
is by graining it up naturally without giving it any false grain. 
This is done by a cork board when the skin is wet. The grain 
of the skin is turned to the grain and then pushed backward 
and forward in eight ways, turning the skin each time. This 
method throws up a beautiful grain and makes a more or less 
regular morocco figure. Heavy skins throw up a large grain, 
while that of light ones is fine and small. To keep this grain in 
so that it will not pull out, the skins are hung up in the heat and 
dried. This, of course, makes them hard and stiff and it is 
necessary to go through the same method again only with the 
skin dry instead of wet. This keeps the former grain and 
makes the leather soft and pliable. 

"Another good way to do where prices enter into the ques- 
tion is to take the skins from the dry room, wet them and put 
them under a jig roll. This is a small steel roll about six 
inches long, cut with indentations, so that the roll under great 
pressure on wet leather gives a pebbled or morocco figure. 
This also must be dried in, then wet down and hand grained 
just exactly as the natural grain skin. This gives a beautiful 
regular morocco grain that will not pull out or flatten, and it is 
done at no deterioration to the leather itself. 

"The poorest way, though much used, and really the best 
known among bookbinders, is embossing. The objectionable 
feature to this process is that to keep the figure in it is neces- 
sar)' to use heat, and a lot of it. This injures the fibers and the 
grain, leaving the leather with an unnatural grain. Of course 
this may be broken up more or less by dry graining, but this 
only makes the grain pull out very easily. No good work 
should ever be embossed. The process is most fit for sheep- 
skins or other skins when no other method will do, or else for 



COLORING AND FINISHING OF INDIA-TANNED SKINS. 25 1 

very poor stock which will not look good when finished in 
either of the other two ways. The grain can be made bright 
at any time during these processes by glazing on a glazing 
machine. 

"The leather, no matter how finished, is now ready for split- 
ting. This can be done any weight desired. While it aids in 
the making of the book, split leather will not wear so many 
years as unsplit. The fibers are cut right in half, and the flesh 
part being the strongest part of a skin, one-half of its strength 
is lost. Unsplit leather would cost more than split, the work 
and cost of making the book would be greater, and so unsplit 
leather, even though it be the best, is very seldom used on 
morocco, though on bock and India sheep the reverse is true." 

Some of the splits taken from India-tanned skins are made 
into ooze; some are used for leather pillows; some for cover- 
ing handles of golf sticks, for linings of purses, bags, etc. 
Crushed Levant grain is obtained by embossing the skins, then 
seasoning and glazing them as the grain must be flattened out. 
Two or three glazings are necessary to get the proper finish. 
The colors are generally blue, red, green, brown, tan and wine 
colors. To get the best results in coloring, it is advisable to 
have the skins embossed before coloring, and coloring after- 
wards by table coloring, which will leave the crevices of the 
grain a lighter hue than the upper surface, which is desired ^ 
besides leaving the flesh clean and white. Other grains also 
can be treated in like manner with good results. 

Plump leather always takes a better grain in boarding. When 
it is possible to select skins for boarded grains it is best to 
roll them with a diced or straight grain roller. Should the 
latter be used, the skin should be rolled diagonally, to form a 
small diamond, which is afterwards hand boarded ; this breaks 
up the machine roll impression and forms the grain so much 
desired. The spots at the butt of the skin generally pipe or 
blister and should be lightly gone over with the hand board. 
The leather, if sufficiently plump, can be finally split so that the 
grain will come out the desired weight. The grains finished as 



2 52 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

described are used for collar and cuff boxes, belts, hand bags, 
pocket books, music rolls, and other purposes. 

Ooze or Suede Leathers. 

There are many varieties of ooze leather, almost all kinds 
of skins being made into it, and various tanning processes 
used. The leather resembles undressed kid glove leather in 
appearance, but for some purposes it is heavier and less soft. 
Ooze skins are used in the manufacture of fancy leather goods, 
hats and caps, books, leggings, spats, shoes, slippers, and many 
other articles. Skins that have defective grain can be made 
into ooze leather more profitably than into leather finished on 
the grain. The flesh side can be finished or the grain can be 
removed after the skins have been limed ; they are then tanned 
in any suitable process. Slunk calf skins make very fine ooze 
leather. The stock intended to be made into ooze leather is 
worked through the beam-house and tanned and finished ex- 
pressly for ooze finish. Tanners of chrome and vegetable 
tanned leathers and finishers of India-tanned skins, however, 
find many that have poor grains, and these they finish into 
ooze leather. India-tanned sheepskins in ooze finish find 
ready sale, but the color must be reliable. These, as well as 
other vegetable-tanned skins, are finished on the flesh side and 
used for belts, bags, fancy slippers, etc. Softness and good 
<:olor are the essential qualities. A short, smooth nap is also 
important, which is obtained by the skins being ground on 
stones made for this purpose. Coloring is done after grindin.\r. 

The following description is an outline of the methods used 
in finishing of India-tanned ooze leather: 

• The skins are assorted and those that have good grains are 
taken and colored and finished upon the grain, while those 
that have poor grains and other imperfections are thrown aside 
for ooze finish. These imperfect skins are then thoroughly 
washed and cleansed of dirt and surplus tanning material ; 
they are then struck out to rid them of surplus water, and 
then ground while in the wet condition. The next process 



COLORING AND FINISHING OF INDIA-TANNED SKINS. 253. 

is retanning with sumac, which not only retans the skins but 
prepares them for coloring also. The sumac is applied in a 
warm solution in a drum, after which^'the skins are colored. 
Coloring is done in either a drum or tray, preferably in a 
drutn, as it consumes less time and is more uniform, the 
tumbling and pounding of the skins serving to pound the color 
into them. When colored they are fat-liquored, dried, softened 
by perching and knee-staking, and then ironed. Ironing must 
be carefully done or the nap will have a shiny look that is un- 
desirable ; if the iron is too hot it will burn the skins. The 
latter can also be run on emery-bufhng wheels when staked 
and dry, which makes them soft and smooth. Grinding on 
stones while wet and before retanning, is the best way to treat 
the skins, as it produces the close nap that is so essential on 
the finished leather. Prevailing colors are gray, tan and brown. 
When the skins are tanned for ooze finish, they are tanned, 
colored, fat-liquored and finished in about the same manner as 
mocha glove leather ; various other tanning processes are also 
used, chrome, alum, etc., that make leather with the requisite 
softness and fine feel. The color should always be uniform 
through the skins so that the edges will not show a dififerent 
shade. Chrome-tanned ooze leather is of comparatively recent 
introduction. It affords the tanner a profitable outlet for 
skins that would otherwise make only a very low grade of 
grain-finished leather. 

Chrome Leather from India-tanned Kips. 

India-tanned kips, when carefully retanned with chrome 
liquor, make very serviceable leather that partakes of the 
nature of both vegetable and chrome tannages. A few sug- 
gestions as to how to retan and finish this kind of leather may 
be of service to the tanner. 

The kips are first soaked in warm water and then placed in 
piles to soften. When the water has penetrated the hides, they 
are run in a drum for a quarter of an hour to soften them and 
to remove the dirt and plaster adhering to them. They^ 



2 54 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

are next cut down the back into sides for more convenient 
handling, and are then split on the belt-knife machine. As the 
hides are not fully tanned a great deal of care is necessary in 
splitting in order to prevent cutting and gouging. The knife 
must be kept in perfect condition, and the hides must be neither 
too wet nor too dry, or they will split very unevenly. All the 
rough flesh around the edges and shoulders should be trimmed 
ofif before the hides are washed. Washing is done with sal 
soda and warm water in a drum. The object of washing is to 
remove the excess of tannin so that retanning can be done. 
From two to three pounds of sal soda should be used for each 
hundred pounds of dry leather. It is dissolved in warm water 
and the hides are drummed in the solution at least thirty min- 
utes and perhaps longer as they seem to require it. The tem- 
perature of the water should be about 95 degrees Fahr. After 
the leather has been washed for half an hour, it should be 
thoroughly washed in warm water and made as clean as pos- 
sible before it is retanned. For this purpose a good one-bath 
liquor should be used. The washed hides, after draining several 
hours, are put into a drum with a sufficient quantity of water 
to cover them, and a few pounds of salt are added and dissolved. 
The drum is started and the chrome liquor is then poured in 
through the hollow axle. The liquor should be added in three 
portions, the first after the hides have been drumming in the 
salt water a few minutes, the second after fifteen minutes, and 
the third thirty minutes after the first portion, and the drum- 
ming should then be continued for at least an hour, and longer 
does no harm. The sides are then placed over horses and 
allowed to drain for twenty-four hours. They are next washed 
for twenty minutes in borax water at 100 degrees Fahr., one 
pound of borax being used for one hundred pounds of wet 
stock, and then in clean water to remove all traces of acidity 
and tanning salts. In order to expedite matters, it is practic- 
able to add a little purple aniline or blue nigrosine to the 
borax water toward the end of the process to color the flesh 
and give a bottom color for the black. 



COLORING AND FINISHTNG OF INUIA-TANNED SKINS. 255 

After washing, the water can be drained off and fat-liquor 
put in without taking the leather from the drum. The best 
way to fat-liquor, however, is to take it from the drum, press 
it and then run it in a warm drum before giving it the fat 
liquor. Any good chrome fat-liquor can be used. The leather 
should be drummed in it for forty minutes, then drained twelve 
hours and then either struck out by hand-, or run through the 
striking-out machine and prepared for coloring. 

The leather can also be colored after washing, fat-liquoring 
being done afterwards. Coloring is most expeditiously efifected 
in a drum. 

An excellent color is secured by using the following process : 

For each hundred pounds of leather ready to be colored, 
boil in ten gallons of water, one and a half pounds of logwood 
crystals and four ounces of borax; then stir into the liquor 
four ounces of fustic paste. Use this liquor at 125 degrees 
Fahr. Drum the leather in it for one-half hour; then pour 
into the drum a solution of five ounces of titanium-potassium 
oxalate in a pail of hot water, and run the drum fifteen minutes 
longer. If the leather has not been fat-liquored, it should next 
be washed and then fat-liquored, oiled and dried. The grain 
should be well struck out and oiled with a mixture of one part 
olive and three parts parafiine oils. Drying should be done 
somewhat slowly; and when dry, the leather should be damp- 
ened and staked and tacked. 

Finishing is done in the same manner as upon straight 
chrome leather. The grain is given a coat of seasoning, dried 
and glazed ; then given another coat, and dried and glazed 
again. If grained leather is wanted, the leather after it has 
been glazed the first time, is grained two ways, from neck to 
butt and from side to side. A light coat of seasoning is then 
put on, when it is glazed again and then re-grained. When 
finished, it very closely resembles genuine chrome leather. 

Patent Tipping from India-tanned Kips. 
India-tanned kips when properly retanned and fat-liquored 



256 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

make a very good grade of patent tipping. The kips are 
taken from the bale and split into sides; they are then damp- 
ened and placed in piles until the next day. The grain is then 
split off at a two and a half or three ounce weight. Washing^ 
to prepare the grains for retanning is the next process. Use 
water at 85 degrees Fahr., and wash them in it in a drum 
for forty-five minutes ; then drain the water out and put in the 
retanning liquor. 

Gambier and hemlock make a good retannage. Prepare a 
20-degree barkometer liquor and use three gallons of the same" 
for every dozen sides. Drum the leather in this for thirty 
minutes. Other good retanning liquors are made of quebracho 
three parts and palmetto one part; also hemlock and palmetto. 

After the sides are retanned, place them in a pile until the 
next day; then hang them up to dry. When dry have them 
degreased. Degreasing is for the purpose of removing the 
peculiar grease in India-tanned leather that cannot be got rid of 
by washing and that makes it impossible to japan the leather. 

For a fat liquor use good moellon degras. Add three or 
four ounces of salts of tartar to three gallons of hot water, at 
125 degrees Fahr., then stir in three pounds of degras. Stir 
thoroughly and run the leather in the fat-liquor thirty minutes. 
This amount of fat-liquor is for fifty sides. After fat-liquoring, 
set the leather out on the grain and tack it on frames to dry. 
When dry, buff off the grain and stake lightly and it is then 
ready for the japan shop. If no fat-liquor is given, the leather 
will be dry and tender. There is no danger in using good 
moellon degras since all bark tipping, carriage and furniture 
leathers are stuffed with it. 



SECTION FIVE. 

The Manufacture of Goatskin Leather. 

Goatskins with the hair on them are received by the tanner 
in dry and dry-salted condition. The first process through 
which they are passed is soaking, which removes from them 
the dirt, blood and~salt, and makes them soft and supple. All 
the salt on the dry-salted skins must be removed by soaking 
and washing before they are put into lime. Dry skins must 
be softened and the shriveled grain freshened and soaked out 
smooth and clean. 

Borax and sulphide of sodium are useful in soaking and 
softening the skins. As soon as they become soft, they 
should be put into a drum supplied with running water and 
run therein until perfectly clean and soft, when they are ready 
to be put into the lime. Skins that have been pulled off the 
animal must be cut open after they are soaked ; and all skins 
should be trimmed before they are limed. 

Lime and red arsenic are used to loosen the hair and to dis- 
solve the animal matter that must be washed and worked 
out before soft glazed leather can be made. Lime attacks 
the tissue of the skins before it acts upon the hair. Red 
arsenic attacks the hair first. Through the use of both ma- 
terials, the hair is soon loosened and enough skin substance is 
dissolved to make soft leather. Red arsenic has a tendency to 
keep the grain from rising and to keep the skins flat. It is 
especially useful on skins that are to be glazed since they 
glaze more brightly than those on which red arsenic has 
not been used. Lime alone, especially when a fresh solu- 
tion is used, makes the grain harsh and coarse. For this 
reason old lime liquor, provided it is clean, produces the best 
results. Nearly all goatskins for glazed kid are limed in old, 
17 (257) 



258 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

mellow arsenic limes. Such liming, followed by a bating with 
a bacterial bate, produces the soft, supple leather and the 
smooth, silky grain that is so much admired. A newly made 
lime-liquor should always contain some old lime liquor to tone 
down its harsh effect upon the skins. After the h.iir becomes 
loosened it is advisable to leave the skins in the lime a day or 
two longer as this not only enables the hair to come ofT more 
readily but makes the leather more supple. They should 
then be placed in warm water containing borax which removes 
surface lime and softens the grain so that the short hairs are 
easily removed as well as the scurf. The liming is done most 
satisfactorily by starting the skins in a rather weak and mellow 
lime, then increasing the strength of the liquor until the hair 
can be easily removed. It has been proved in practice that by 
dissolving red arsenic with the hot lime while the latter is slak- 
ing, better results are obtained than by dissolving the arsenic 
by itself. After the skins are unhaired, they are washed and 
fine-haired, and are in condition to be delimed. 

A practical method of liming goatskins consists in weighing 
them before they are put into lime -and figuring the amount 
of lime and arsenic on the weight at that time, A vat six feet 
deep should be filled with two and one- half feet of used or old 
lime liquor and two feet of cold water. Into a tub one- 
eighth of the weight of the skins of lime and one per cent, of 
the weight of the skins of red arsenic are placed, and ten or 
twelve pails of hot water added, the lime and arsenic being 
stirred until entirely dissolved. About five pails of cold water 
are added to the lime solution, which is then poured into the 
vat. The liquor in the vat is then plunged thoroughly and the 
skins are thrown in. They are hauled out every day and 
allowed to drain off before being put back, or if a paddle- 
vat is used, which is preferable, they are stirred about by the 
paddles and hauling-out is not necessary. The man in charge 
must be able to determine how much lime and arsenic to add 
to the liquor. If. on the third day, the hair begins to loosen 
well, one-fifth of the weight of the skins of lime should be 



THE MANUFACTURE OF GOATSKIN LEATHER. 259 

added ; if the hair does not loosen well, more lime than one- 
fifth must be used. No exact rule can be followed, as the 
liming depends upon the season of the year and the condition 
of the skins, some kinds requiring more lime than others. 
From five to seven days is usually sufificiently long for liming. 
When the hair can be easily removed the skins are taken out 
of the lime and unhaired. 

New Process for Liming Goatskins. — Besides the old method 
of unhairing goatskins with lime and red arsenic, there is a 
new patented process in use that produces superior leather, 
and also has other advantages. Briefl}^ stated, the process 
consists of first painting the skins with a thin paste of lime and 
arsenic and unhairing them after twenty-four hours. 

They are then treated in a drum with a solution of sul- 
phide of sodium for about twenty-four hours. Without wash- 
ing, they are next placed in a reel and subjected to the 
action of a solution of hyposulphite of soda for about twenty- 
four hours. After the hyposulphite treatment, they are 
placed in a vat containing lime, a little arsenic and water, 
where they remain from two to five days, more or less, after 
which they are washed, bated and drenched as ordinary limed 
skins. 

This process is said to produce very fine leather, firm and 
yet soft, and having a very clear and beautiful grain. The 
patents covering this process are owned by the International 
Sulphide Process Co., Delaware and Penn Sts., Camden, N. J. 

Bating. — The next step in the manufacture of goat leather is 
the process commonly called bating, by means of which the 
skins are freed from all lime, arsenic and alkaline sulphide ac- 
quired during the previous process of liming, and are made soft 
and clean and thus put into good condition to be pickled and 
tanned. 

The essential qualities of goatskin leather are softness, elas- 
ticity, and smooth, soft and silky grain. These qualities are 
produced by the methods that are followed in liming and the 
material and methods that are used in bating and drenching 



260 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

the skins. They are limed thoroughly and long and then 
bated in such a manner that not only is the lime entirely re- 
moved but also the portion of skin-substance that the lime dis- 
solved, thus permitting the fibers to work readily over each 
other and the leather to be soft and elastic. 

To accomplish the results of the bating process, hen, pigeon 
and dog dung have been used for many years. While their 
use is unpleasant and attended by risks and uncertainty, they 
produce upon the hard-grained goatskins results that cannot be 
obtained from the use of other materials and they continue to 
be employed in spite of attempts to displace them with other 
articles. 

Bird dung is very rapid in its action and makes the skins 
soft and silky, but somewhat firm and lacking in elasticity. 
Dog dung has a great softening effect upon the skins, and un- 
less it is carefully used, makes the leather hollow and flat 
and with a great deal of spring to it. Chicken droppings, to 
which some dog manure has been added, is better than either 
material used alone. The best results are obtained when the 
material is gathered while it is fresh and before it has been 
frozen, and dried for future use. The efficacy of the manure 
bate depends upon the fermentative action developed. 

To prepare a chicken manure bate, put the material to soak 
in hot water three or four days before it is to be used. Water 
in a barrel or tub should be heated with steam to 140 degrees 
Fahr., the dry material put into the water and stirred once or 
twice each day so as to get it into a sort of mash that can be 
easily worked through a strainer before it is used. It is always 
advisable to strain the manure before use to get out all 
stones, feathers, etc. A wire strainer having wire ^-inch 
mesh, fitted over a barrel, answers the purpose. 

When the skins are to be bated, fill the paddle vat with water 
and warm it up to 90 degrees Fahr, Add to the warm water 
one bushel of the strained manure for every one hundred large 
goatskins or two hundred small ones. Plunge the bate liquor 
very thoroughly and then throw the skins in as quickly as pos- 



THE MANUFACTURE OF GOATSKIN LEATHER. 26 1 

sible. If the bating is to be done during the night, run the 
paddle one hour before stopping for the night. The next 
morning run the paddle again for one hour, at the end of which 
time the skins should have been reduced from the plump, 
limey condition to one of softness and thinness and the grain 
should have a smooth, silky feel. No specific rule can be fol- 
lowed. The man in charge must use his judgment in determin- 
ing when the skins are sufficiently bated. Sometimes it is 
necessary to warm the bate again, and occasionally the addi- 
tion of more bating material is required. Heavy, coarse 
skins naturally require more bate and longer treatment than 
light ones. Some classes of goatskins also bate more rapidly 
than others. When the bating is done during the day, the 
paddle should be run one hour, then stopped, and run one-half 
hour at a time at intervals of thirty minutes until the skins are 
low and soft. 

A common way to determine when the skins are bated is to 
take one of them, double it over, take the edge between the 
thumb and first finger and press hard. If the pinched edge 
remains sharply defined the skin is bated. A little experience 
will soon teach the operator to determine when the bating is 
accomplished. 

The most satisfactory apparatus for bating is a covered 
paddle wheel, in which there is a steam pipe with a box around 
it so that the liquor can be warmed while the skins are in it. 
The box surrounding the pipe should have a number of one- 
inch holes in it, and the steam pipe should have a bend, 
to correspond with the curve of the round bottom of the tub. 
There should also be a door in the front end of the cover 
which can be raised when putting in or taking out skins. 
With a paddle tub fitted up in this way very uniform bating 
can be done. The skins can be put into a cold bating liquor, 
the steam turned on, and, without burning them, the hquor 
can be warmed up to 90 degrees Fahr., and they will all be 
of the same temperature and will bate uniformly in the warm 
bate. 



262 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

It is not an infrequent occurrence for skins to be seriously 
injured while they are being bated. The liquor sometimes 
putrefies, and when this happens the flesh and grain peel ofif, 
the skins become discolored, and when tanned and finished 
show serious defects. By giving close attention to the work, 
trouble is less apt to occur and the skins can be safely pre- 
pared for tanning. 

After the bating process is completed, the skins should be 
thoroughly worked out on the grain and all filth and slime 
forced out of the pores. When this has been done, they are 
placed in a weak lactic acid bath made in the proportions 
of two quarts of lactic acid to each hundred gallons of warm 
water. They are drenched in this bath for thirty minutes and 
are then ready to be pickled. 

The cleaner the skins are, the more readily they tan and the 
better are the results of coloring and finishing. A point to be 
observed during bating and washing is that the temperature of 
the liquors used should never be higher than 95 degrees Fahr. 
The use of liquor or water warmer than this burns the skins, 
shrinks them and makes the grain harsh and coarse. Drench- 
ing after bating may be done in a bran drench, but this has no 
advantage over the lactic acid drench and is less easily pre- 
pared. 

Bating with Formic and Lactic Acids. — These acids remove 
lime from skins in a short time, but they do not produce the 
soft and silky grain, which can only be obtained by using a 
bacterial bate. The skins can, however, be partially bated 
with manure and then transferred to a bath of formic and lactic 
acids, wherein they are entirely delimed. In the manure bate 
the skins may remain for three-quarters of an hour, or until 
they begin to fall and the flesh begins to slip slightly. They 
should then be scudded or worked out on the grain and next 
placed in a weak, warm bath of the two acids named. The 
acids, four parts formic and one part lactic, should be mixed 
and half a pint or less of the mixed acids should be added to 
sufficient water at 90 degrees Fahr. to cover one hundred 



THE MANUFACTURE OF GOATSKIN LEATHER. 263 

dozen skins, three pounds of calcium chloride being then added 
to the drench. The skins are thrown in and paddled one-half 
hour, then washed in warm water and pickled. 

Bating with PHeri7te .—Vwer'ine is a bacterial bate that is used 
in place of manure. It produces excellent results and is very 
uniform, clean and safe. It contains no foreign matter, and the 
bateman can tell just how many pounds to use to bate a pack 
of skins. No subsequent drenching is required, which is an 
advantage. Directions for using Puerine are furnished by the 
manufacturers, The Martin Dennis Company, Newark, New 
Jersey. 

Pickling with Acid and Salt. — The object of pickling is to 
prepare the skins for tanning, to bleach, and to preserve them. 
It is done in a paddle-wheel in this manner: To every hundred 
gallons of water in the paddle-wheel, forty pounds of salt are 
added. Then for each hundred pounds of skins, weighed after 
drenching and draining, ten pounds of salt and one and one- 
half pounds of sulphuric acid are added to the salt water, and 
the liquor is then very thoroughly plunged. The skins are 
thrown in while the paddle is running and are left in the liquor 
for two hours, after which they are placed smoothly over a 
horse and drained for twelve hours ; they are then in condition 
to be tanned. 

Beamhouse Process for Cabretta Skins. 

In order to get the best results in the tanning of cabretta 
skins, the tanner should use the sulphide of sodium process in 
preparing them, then tan them with a chrome process, and 
finish the same as goatskins. 

Soak the skins until they are soft and clean, then let them 
drain a few hours. Prepare a solution of sulphide of sodium of 
about 18 degrees Baume strength and paint it upon the 
flesh sides. As soon as a skin is painted, fold it from neck to 
butt, hair side out, and place it in a pile with five or six others, 
and let them lie until the next day, when the hair can be easily 
removed over the beam. A mixture of sulphide of sodium 



264 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

and slaked lime may be used to remove the hair in precisely 
the same manner as such a liquor is used on sheepskins. 

After the hair has been removed, the skins are ready for 
further treatment with sulphide of sodium. Dissolve thirteen 
pounds of sulphide of sodium with hot water in a barrel, place 
the skins in a revolving drum, add ten pails of cold water to 
the sulphide Hquor to cool it, put it into the drum and drum 
the skins in the liquor for two or three hours. The quantity of 
sulphide of sodium stated is enough for ten dozen skins. 

When the skins have been drummed in the sulphide of sodium 
liquor for two or three hours, the drum should be stopped and 
the skins allowed to remain in the liquor over night. The next 
morning take them out of the liquor and wash them in warm 
water to get rid of the short hair which has been reduced to a 
slimy mass. Then put them into a drum together with a solu- 
tion of bicarbonate of soda made by dissolving three pounds of 
the soda in twelve gallons of water at 85 degrees Fahr. for each 
hundred pounds of skins, and drum them in this solution for 
forty minutes, then wash them for a half-hour in a paddle 
wheel, when they are ready to be drenched. By this method 
the hair is saved in good condition, the cost of handling the 
stock is less than when any other process is used and, most 
important of all, the skins are made plumper and tougher than 
when they are limed and bated in the old way. 

Drenching may be done with one pint of lactic acid for each 
hundred pounds of skins, and by thorough washing before 
drenching, the quantity of acid may be reduced to one and a 
half pints for every two hundred pounds. Or the skins can 
be drenched in a bran drench or in a drench of bran and lactic 
acid as described for sheepskins. If the tanner does not care 
for the hair he can use this process : Dissolve sulphide of sodium 
in water and pour enough of the solution into a vat until the 
liquor in the latter is i ^ degrees Baume test. Put the skins 
into this solution and by means of the paddle stir them about, 
allowing them to remain two days, then wash them as directed 
above. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF GOATSKIN LEATHER. 265 

After the skins have been drenched and worked out, pickle 
them. Use three quarts of sulphuric acid and seventy-five 
pounds of salt for one hundred and fifty skins, with water 
enough to cover them. Stir them in the pickle three hours, 
then let them drain and when well drained tan them in a 
chrome process, and finish the same as goatskins. 

Process of Tanning Goatskins. 

Nearly all goatskins are tanned at the present time by some 
method of chrome tanning, both the two-bath and one-bath pro- 
cesses being used. Several methods of tanning will be de- 
scribed. The original and most commonly used two-bath 
process consists of two acid baths, the first consisting of 
chromic acid formed by the combination of bichromate of 
potash and muriatic or sulphuric acid, and the second bath 
of sulphurous acid evolved from the union of hyposulphite of 
soda and muriatic acid, A practical method of tanning goat- 
skins with this process is carried out in the following manner: 

The pickled skins are taken and weighed. For every hun- 
dred pounds of them in the lot to be tanned, five pounds of 
bichromate of potash are dissolved in three gallons of water, 
and to the solution are added four pounds of muriatic acid. 
The skins are thrown into a tanning drum together with eight 
pounds of salt and twelve gallons of water for one hundred 
pounds of them. The drum is started, and the solution of 
bichromate of potash and acid is poured into it through the 
funnel and hollow axle with which the drum is equipped. The 
skins are drummed in the liquor until the thickest part of the 
heaviest one shows thorough penetration, which takes from one 
to three hours. The liquor penetrates rapidly, but the skins 
should not be hurried, but drummed as long as stated to ac- 
complish a thorough tanning. They are then taken out of 
the drum and placed smoothly over horses and left thereon 
for twenty-four hours ; they are next run through a putting-out 
machine, or are struck out by hand to remove all wrinkles and 
to insure a smooth grain. After they are struck out, they are 
in condition to receive the second liquor. 



266 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

The second bath is prepared by dissolving fourteen pounds 
of hyposulphite of soda in ten gallons of boiling water for one 
hundred pounds of skins, five or six gallons of cold water being 
added to cool the solution, which should not be used until it 
has become cold. Into a wooden pail full of water four pounds, 
of muriatic acid are stirred. The skins are put into the drum 
together with the solution of hyposulphite of soda, and as soon 
as the drum is started, the muriatic acid solution is poured 
through the funnel into the drum. The latter should always be 
running while the acid is being added to its contents, and should 
be kept going for at least one hour afterwards. The drum- 
ming should be continued until the skins have assumed a uni- 
form blue color, and all trace of yellow has disappeared from the 
interior of them. The tanning is then completed; the skins 
are removed from the drum and placed over horses to drain. 

Skins are also tanned by using five pounds of bichromate of 
potash and two and one-half pounds of sulphuric acid in ten 
gallons of water for the first bath, and eighteen pounds of hypo- 
sulphite of soda and four pounds of muriatic acid in fifteen 
gallons of water for the second bath. On close, fine-pored 
skins more material is required than on open-pored ones. 

Salt is an important factor in this process, and a sufficient 
quantity should always be used to control the action of the 
acid. When more acid than is necessary to form chromic acid 
is used, the salt protects the skins and prevents the acid from 
doing harm. 

Bisulphite of soda is sometimes used in the second bath in 
place of hyposulphite; the latter, however, is in most common 
use. Muriatic acid is always employed in the second bath, as 
there is less danger of sulphur being precipitated on the fibers 
than with sulphuric acid. The harder the skins are struck out 
from the first bath, the less chromic acid they contain and the 
less hyposulphite of soda is required to reduce it to chromic 
oxide. As a general rule twelve pounds of hyposulphite of 
soda and three pounds of acid are sufficient for one hundred 
pounds of skins. Heavy stock requires more soda, from twelve 



THE MANUFACTURE OF GOATSKIN LEATHER. 267 

to eighteen pounds being used, with more acid to correspond. 
The skins should be given plenty of time during the process 
and afterwards. 

The workmen who handle the skins out of the first bath 
should wear rubber gloves for protection from the poisonous 
chrome liquor, which causes serious sores when handled with 
unprotected hands. 

While the skins are draining from the first liquor they should 
be kept in a dark place or else well covered up; they must 
never be exposed to the efTect of the light. If exposed to the 
light for any length of time, or are allowed to dry or harden, 
the chromic acid is reduced to chromic oxide at their expense. 
The reduction should take place in the second bath. 

Bichromate of soda may be used in place of bichromate of 
potash in the first bath. The chromic acid, which is formed by 
the addition of muriatic acid to a solution of bichromate of 
potash or of soda, is absorbed by the skins, which do not 
undergo any chemical change. In the second bath the acidified 
solution of hyposulphite of soda reduces the chromic acid to 
chromic oxide, thus tanning the skins. In addition to the 
insoluble basic chrome salts, sulphur is deposited on the fibers. 
It is not a simple matter to obtain a uniform quality of leather, 
as the process is more intricate than it appears to be ; com- 
plicated reactions take place, and free sulphur is liberated in 
the skins which is removed with considerable difficulty. Tan- 
ning with this process is also done in paddle-vats ; also by giv- 
ing the first bath in a drum and the second bath in a paddle-vat. 

After the skins have drained several hours they are very 
thoroughly washed. They are first washed in warm water 
containing borax, and then in clear water until all traces of acid 
and tanning materials are removed. 

A good washing process consists of two baths, the first, a 
solution of two to three per cent, of the weight of the skins of 
sodium phosphate, and the second, a solution of 0.5 percent, of 
sodium bicarbonate. The temperature of the baths should be 
80 degrees Fahr. In the first bath the skins are washed from 



268 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

twenty to forty minutes ; the liquor is then drained off and the 
second solution is put in, and washing continued thirty min- 
utes longer. This washing accomplishes the neutralization of 
the skins. Some tanners merely wash the skins in hot water, 
using a twister, which accomplishes the process in less time 
than either an ordinary drum or a paddle-vat. 

One of the most essential qualities of goatskin leather is a 
smooth, fine grain. A method of acid tanning considerably 
different from the regular two-bath process produces a smoother 
grain with less contraction because no sulphur is present in the 
second bath. While this method partakes to some extent of 
the nature of the original two-bath process, it is really a one- 
bath one, as will be seen from the following description. 

Four pounds of bichromate of potash are used for each hun- 
dred pounds of skins to be tanned. This quantity of potash is 
dissolved in boiling water and mixed with three pounds of 
muriatic acid of a strength of 20 degrees Be. The solution is 
then added to suflficient water in a vat to cover the skins. 

The skins are treated in this solution for a period of time 
long enough to enable the yellow liquor to penetrate the thick- 
est one. Without removing them from this chrome liquor, 
two solutions — called the S. Z. solution and the S. K. solution 
— are added, in the proportion of twenty per cent, of the 
former and thirty-five per cent, of the latter. These two solu- 
tions should be well mixed together before being given to the 
skins. After the two solutions have been mixed and added to 
the chrome liquor, five per cent, of the weight of the skins of 
sulphuric acid is mixed with about thirty times its weight of 
water, and added to the bath. To prevent the acid from com- 
ing in direct contact with the skins, it should be added to the 
bath through a lead-lined funnel long enough to reach to the 
bottom of the vat. While these liquors are being added the 
drum should be kept in constant motion. At the end of one 
and one-half days the tanning is done, although the skins may 
be left for a longer time in the liquor without injury. No con- 
traction of the fibers results when this process is used, and no 
sulphur is present as in the older chrome process. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF GOATSKIN LEATHER. 269 

The S. Z. solution consists of eighty pounds of nitrite of soda 
dissolved in eighty-four pounds of hot water. The S. K. solu- 
tion is composed of forty-eight pounds of fresh chloride of 
lime, forty-eight pounds of soda-ash and three hundred and 
eighty-four pounds of hot water. The soda-ash is first dis- 
solved in the hot water, and when it is all dissolved the chlor- 
ide of lime is added through a sieve. While this is being done 
the liquor should be constantly stirred. When all the lime has 
been stirred in, the liquor is allowed to rest for two days, until 
all the sediment has settled to the bottom of the vessel. The 
clear liquor is drawn ofif and used in the process, while the 
sediment is thrown away. Both liquors, S. Z. and S. K., may 
be kept in one vessel, carboy, vat, or hogshead, provided the 
proper proportions are kept up ; when it is wanted the re- 
quired quantity is taken out for use. A wooden tank, tub, or 
hogshead should be used for making the solutions. 

The inventor of the method that has just been described is 
also the discoverer of the following process, upon which he 
has been granted a patent: For each hundred pounds of skins 
as they come from the beam-house, drained after the final 
washing, four pounds of bichromate of -potash and three pounds 
of muriatic acid of a strength of 20 degrees Be. are mingled 
with the quantity of water necessary to drum the skins in. In 
this liquor they are drummed until thoroughly impregnated 
with the liquor; then they are removed from the drum, drained 
or pressed or struck out, and are then ready for the second 
bath. For this one hundred gallons of water are heated to 
a temperature of about ninety degrees Fahr. Into this are 
poured five pounds and five ounces of sulphuric acid of a 
strength of 66 degrees Be. This is well mixed through the 
water, and then are added, by being slowly sifted in, four 
pounds of peroxide of sodium. While this is being done, the 
liquor should be constantly stirred. When all the peroxide of 
sodium has been added, the previously-chromed skins are 
entered into the liquor and paddled until they are tanned, 
which can be readily seen by the tanner. In this process no 



270 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

sulphurous acid is evolved. The grain of the skins is left 
smooth and adapted to readily receive a glazed or enameled 
finish. 

Tanning with One- Bath Processes. — There are commercial 
one-bath tanning liquors and crystals on the market that the 
tanner can buy. They are more uniform than any liquor the 
tanner can make, and are cheaper. They come in concen- 
trated form, requiring only to be reduced with water and ap- 
plied to the skins. 

The pickled skins can be tanned with one-bath material by 
carrying out the following instructions: For every hundred 
pounds of them dissolve one pound of Glauber salt in eight 
gallons of water. Mill them in this solution fifteen minutes. 
They should then be thrown back upon each side of the 
drum, the plug pulled out, and the liquor allowed to run 
ofif. Replace the plug in the drum, and for each one hundred 
pounds of skins put ten pounds of common salt and eight 
gallons of water into the drum and run the latter five min- 
utes. In the meantime dissolve ten to twelve pounds of 
concentrated chrome liquor for each hundred pounds of skins 
in four gallons of warm water. Give the skins one-fourth 
of this chrome liquor and run the drum twenty minutes. 
Then pour into the drum another quarter of the liquor and 
drum one-half hour. The third portion should then be put 
into the drum, and after thirty minutes the last portion, and 
the drumming continued for two or three hours. In a little 
hot water now dissolve eight ounces of bicarbonate of soda 
for each hundred pounds of skins, add this to the contents of 
the drum and run the latter one half hour. If at the end of 
this time the liquor in the drum is still of a deep green color, 
add another half pound of the soda and drum thirty minutes 
longer. The skins should be left in the liquor over night, 
sufficient water being added to it to cover them. Remove the 
leather from the drum and allow it to drain for twenty-four 
hours before washing it. After it has been pressed and drained 
twenty-four hours, wash it in a two per cent, solution of borax 



THE MANUFACTURE OF GOATSKIN LEATHER. 2/1 

for one half hour, then in clean water for twenty minutes, when 
it is sufficiently washed to be shaved, colored, fat-liquored, 
dried and finished. 

The tanning material can be prepared for use by reducing 
the concentrated liquor with warm water until the solution is 
23 degrees Baume scale. Four gallons of such liquor will tan 
one hundred pounds of skins. 

Tanjtmg with Sulphate of Alumina, Sal Soda and Chrome 
Liquor. — Pickled skins are also tanned by the following process : 
They are weighed and for each one hundred pounds to be tan- 
ned two solutions are prepared, one consisting of three pounds 
of sulphate of alumina in five gallons of water, and the other, of 
three pounds of sal soda also in five gallons of water. Both 
materials are separately boiled with steam until dissolved. The 
solution of sal soda is then slowly stirred into that of sulphate 
of alumina, a small portion at a time and short intervals allowed 
for the effervescence to subside. The two solutions combined 
form a milk-white liquor. This should be allowed to become 
cool before it is used, or enough cold water may be added to 
reduce the temperature to 85 degrees Fahr. The skins are 
thrown into the drum with eight pounds of salt and five gallons 
of water and drummed therein ten minutes ; then the alumina- 
soda liquor is poured into the drum, and drumming is continued 
for thirty minutes. 

Four gallons of one-bath chrome liquor, in portions of a gal- 
lon at a time, are poured into the drum and the latter is run 
until the skins are fully tanned. One-half pound of salts of 
tartar is then dissolved and added to the contents of the drum 
and after another half hour drumming the process is completed. 
The skins should be allowed to press and drain for twenty- 
four hours, next be washed in a one per cent, solution of borax 
for thirty minutes and finally in clean water for forty minutes, 
after which they are pressed or struck out, shaved, colored, fat- 
liquored and dried out. 

Tannijtg with Sulphate of Alumina and Chrome Liquor. — 
For this process of tanning the acid pickle should be removed 



272 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

by drenching the skins in a drench of sour bran and salt. Then 
for each hundred pounds of stock prepare a solution by dis- 
solving three pounds of sulphate of alumina and eight pounds 
of salt in eight gallons of lukewarm water. Run the skins in 
this solution for forty minutes. Then add chrome-liquor in 
portions of a gallon at a time until three or four gallons have 
been poured into the drum. Allow the drum to revolve three 
hours or longer; then let the skins remain in the liquor over 
night. The next morning place them smoothly over a horse 
and let them drain for twenty-four hours. The next process is 
washing, after which they are shaved, colored and finished. 

Sometimes it is deemed expedient to keep skins for some 
time after they are bated. This can be done by treating them 
with alum or sulphate of alumina and salt, after which they can 
be kept a long time without spoiling as the alum and salt virtu- 
ally tans them. The solution of alum and salt is made by 
dissolving three or four pounds of alum and six or eight pounds 
of salt in ten gallons of water for one hundred pounds of skins 
taken after bating and drenching, or after the acid pickle has 
been removed from them. When taken after bating and drench- 
ing, no acid pickle is used. The skins are drummed in the alum 
and salt solution forty-five minutes, then placed over horses to 
drain and finally rolled up in bundles or packed in barrels and 
put away until they are to be tanned. 

When they are to be tanned, they are put into the tan- 
ning drum with a solution of chrome liquor and processed 
therein until tanned. Ten or twelve pounds of concentrated 
chrome liquor dissolved in a few gallons of water tans one 
hundred pounds of alum-pickled skins. 

To wash the tanned skins use one pound of borax and fifteen 
gallons of water. Wash them in this liquor for twenty min- 
utes ; then remove the plugs, turn on running water and con- 
tinue washing thirty minutes longer. After they are washed,, 
press or strike them out, and then shave them. 



the manufacture of goatskin leather. 273 

Methods of Dyeing Goatskins Black. 

Dyeing with Logwood and Titanium Salt. — For one hundred 

pounds of shaved skins use : 

Logwood Crystals ii^ pounds. 

Extract of Fustic Paste 4 ounces. 

Salts of Tartar 3 ounces. 

Boil the logwood in six gallons of water until dissolved; then 
add the fustic paste and stir thoroughly ; run in enough cold 
water to make twelve gallons of liquor; add the salts of tartar 
and then color the skins by drumming them in the Ay^ for 
twenty minutes until the logwood is taken up. The tempera- 
ture of the liquor should be 120 degrees Fahr. Borax may be 
used in place of salts of tartar. While the skins are running in 
the dye, dissolve in a pail of hot water, for each hundred 
pounds of skins, 

Titanium-Potassium Oxalate 6 ounces. 

When the twenty minutes are up, pour this solution into the 
drum and drum the skins ten or fifteen minutes longer. Then 
wash them in warm water and fat-liquor them. 

Dyeing with Logwood and Bichromate of Potash. — Prepare a 
logwood- fustic liquor as directed above and run the skins in it 
for twenty minutes. Then in a pail of water dissolve. 

Bichromate of Potash i ounce, 

and when the twenty minutes are up, add this solution to the 
contents of the drum and run the drum ten or fifteen minutes 
longer. Wash and fat-Hquor the skins. 

Dyeing with Logwood, Acetic Acid and Nitrate of Iron. — To 
color one hundred pounds of skins use : 

Logwood Crystals 1 1^ pounds. 

Black Nigrosine i ounce. 

Borax 4 ounces. 

Acetic Acid \y^ ounces. 

Nitrate of Iron 3 ounces. 

Boil the logwood in a few gallons of water; add the borax and 
enough water to make twelve gallons of liquor. In a pail of 
hot water dissolve the nigrosine. Run the skins in the log- 
wood liquor for ten minutes ; add the nigrosine and run ten 
18 



274 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

minutes longer. Then dissolve the acetic acid and nitrate of 
iron in two gallons of water. Pour the solution into the drum 
and run the latter fifteen minutes. Then drain the liquor out 
of the drum, wash the skins in two or three changes of water 
and then fat-liquor them. The temperature of the dye liquor 
should be 120 degrees Fahr. 

Dyeing with Logwood, Permanganate of Potash, and Iron 
Liquor. — A process of dyeing chrome goatskins in which per- 
manganate of potash is used was recently patented by William 
M. Norris, of Princeton, New Jersey. The process is applied 
in the following manner: In the drum are placed four hundred 
and fifty pounds of skins as they come from the shaving ma- 
chine and thirty gallons of water at a temperature of from no 
to 120 degrees Fahr., and the drum is then closed and started. 
Now dissolve two and one-half pounds of permanganate of 
potash in forty-five gallons of warm water and then add two 
and one-half pounds of muriatic acid of 21 degrees Baume, this 
solution being run into the drum through the hollow gudgeon. 
After ten minutes, stop the rotation of the drum, then open it 
and allow the liquor, which is now spent, to run off. Replace 
the head or door of the drum, allow the latter to rotate and add 
as before through the gudgeon, two gallons of iron liquor which 
have been previously mixed with forty-five gallons of warm 
water. After ten minutes, stop the rotation of the drum, open 
it and allow the liquor to run off. Next dissolve in forty-five 
gallons of warm water, three pounds of extract of logwood and 
three pounds of sal soda; and after the drum has been closed 
and allowed to rotate, add the liquor through the gudgeon. 
After ten minutes, stop the drum and remove the skins. The 
coloring process is now complete, and the skins are thor- 
oughly washed in a twister with warm water for fifteen or 
twenty minutes before being fat-liquored and finished. 

The iron liquor referred to may be prepared by dissolving 
scrap iron in dilute commercial acetic acid ; the solution 
ready for use should stand 10 degrees on a Baume hydrometer. 
But any suitable ferrous salt of iron may be used. The tern- 



THE MANUFACTURE OF GOATSKIN LEATHER. 2/5 

perature of the warm water referred to should be about iio 
degrees Fahr. in summer, and from 120 degrees to 125 degrees 
Fahr, in winter. 

The muriatic acid should always be added to the perman- 
ganate solution when all the required amount of water is pres- 
ent, and never to a hot concentrated solution of permanganate 
of potash. 

It is claimed that deep, rich and more permanent shades of 
black besides other advantages can be economically obtained 
by the use of this process. 

Dyeing with Logwood and Copperas. — For each one hundred 
pounds of skins to be dyed prepare a logwood liquor by boil- 
ing in a few gallons of water: 

Logwood Crystals 1 1^ pounds. 

Fustic Paste 4 ounces. 

Borax 4 ounces. 

Drum the skins in this liquor, of which there should be 
twelve gallons at 120 degrees Fahr., for twenty minutes. In 
the meantime, dissolve in three gallons of boiling water: 

Copperas 2 ounces. 

Bluestone i-^ ounce. 

Add cold water to the solution to reduce the temperature to 
100 degrees Fahr. When the twenty minutes are up, pour the 
solution into the drum and allow the latter to rotate fifteen 
minutes. Then remove the skins from the drum, wash them 
in two or three changes of warm water and finally fat-liquor 
them. 

Processes of Coloring Chrome-tanned Goatskins. 

Chrome-tanned goatskins are readily colored any shade with 
aniline and alizarine dyes, provided they are first properly pre- 
pared to receive the dye, and the right materials and methods 
are used in the coloring operations. The most common 
method of coloring with aniline dyes is to mordant the skins 
with tanning extracts such as sumac, gambler, palmetto, fustic, 
and the like. Alizarine dyes require no mordant as they dye 
directly on the chrome-tanned leather. 



276 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Before any attempt is made to color the skins, however, it is 
very essential that they be thoroughly washed in order to rid 
them of all acids and salts acquired during the process of tan- 
ning. This washing should never be omitted or sHghted with 
acid-tanned stock. When the skins are not pickled before 
tanning and when they are tanned with sulphate of alumina 
and a one-bath chrome liquor or with the latter alone, they 
can be colored, fat-liquored and dried and then washed, and 
and the result is very soft, glove-like leather; but acid-tanned 
and one-bath tanned stock for shoe leather should always be 
be washed before being colored. 

After the skins are washed, they are struck out by hand or 
machine or pressed and are then shaved and made of more 
uniform thickness and smooth and clean on the flesh side. 
During the operations of washing, striking-out and shaving, 
they should be kept from contact with stain and grease, which 
are readily absorbed by them at this stage of the work and 
interfere with the subsequent coloring and finishing. 

The tanning materials that are used as mordants frequently 
contain gummy matter which causes spots to appear upon the 
leather. To avoid this, it is a wise precaution to strain the 
solution before using it. The materials should be boiled until 
dissolved; then enough water should be added to make twelve 
gallons of solution for one hundred pounds of skins. Coloring 
is done most uniformly and expeditiously in a drum. 

The temperature of the solutions used in coloring should be 
from 100 to 125 degrees Fahr. There is less liability of the 
color fading if fat-liquoring is done immediately after col- 
oring. After the skins have been drummed in the mordant, 
the liquor should be run out of the drum, the latter closed 
and started again, and the dye liquor added through the 
funnel and hollow gudgeon while the drum is running. 
The drum should now be stopped until the color solution has 
been in at least ten minutes or the skins will be spotted. The 
aniline dye should be dissolved in clean boiling water and then 
boiled thoroughly. When it is completely dissolved, it is best 



THE MANUFACTURE OF GOATSKIN LEATHER. 2/7 

to strain the solution through cheese cloth into another pail, 
then to cool it with cold water to the proper temperature. It 
is, of course, necessary to keep the pails and drums used in 
coloring as clean as possible. These points carefully observed 
assist materially in getting satisfactory colors. The skins can 
be fat-liquored either before or after they are colored. The 
most common practice is to fat-liquor after coloring, although 
good results are obtained when the skins are fat-liquored, then 
mordanted and colored or first mordanted, then fat-liquored 
and colored. 

Sumac Mordant. — The tanning material most commonly 
used in coloring chrome leather is sumac. This material, be- 
cause of the small amount of coloring matter it contains, is 
naturally adapted to the production of light and fancy shades. 
It is used in various ways. A practical way to color the skins 
with extract of sumac and aniline dye is carried out according 
to the following instructions : 

Prepare a sumac liquor by using four ounces of extract of 
sumac for each dozen skins, or from one to two pounds for one 
hundred pounds of leather. Have the temperature of the liquor 
about lOO degrees Fahr., and drum the skins in it twenty 
minutes. Then add to the sumac liquor in the drum four 
ounces of titanium-potassium oxalate dissolved in a pail of hot 
water for each one hundred pounds of skins. Run the drum 
ten minutes, then drain the liquor out of it and run in the ani- 
line solution to color. This process of coloring produces full, 
clear and uniform colors with either basic or acid dyes, pre- 
ferably the latter. 

Gambier Mordant. — For one hundred pounds of stock use 
two pounds of gambier dissolved in twelve gallons of water. 
Use at a temperature of lOO degrees Fahr., and drum the 
skins in the solution forty minutes. Then pour into the drum 
four ounces of titanium salt dissolved in hot water. Run the 
drum ten minutes longer. Then drain out the liquor and color 
the skins with acid dye or rinse them in warm water and color 
with basic dye. This is a good process for tan shades. 



2/8 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

A liquor composed of equal parts of gambler and fustic is 
also an excellent mordant for shades of tan and light brown. 

Fustic Mordant. — Fustic extract is frequently used as a base 
or mordant for aniline dyes on chrome-tanned goatskins. Five 
ounces of liquid extract used for each dozen skins, or from one 
to two pounds for one hundred pounds of them, produce good 
results. It is used for both Hght and dark shades. After the 
skins have been drummed in it, a solution of titanium salt 
should be added and the drumming continued ten minutes, the 
liquor then run ofif and the skins colored with aniline dye. 

Palmetto Mordant. — Very good coloring is obtained from the 
use of palmetto extract as a mordant. This material is a good 
fastener of aniline dye, and by its use the grain is made solid 
and smooth and less liable to peel. It also neutralizes any 
acid in the skins. About five ounces of the extract may be 
used at a temperature of iio degrees Fahr. for each dozen 
skins, or from one to two pounds for one hundred pounds of 
leather. Treatment with titanium salt is the same as upon 
sumac and gambler mordant. 

Other Mordants. — In addition to the extracts that have been 
mentioned, quermos, hemlock, quebracho and various com- 
binations of extracts are used. The object of using them is to 
impart tannin to the skins, which serves as a mordant for the 
dye. " When titanium salts are applied to chrome leather 
lightly treated with some tannin, the titanium unites with the 
tannin of the leather to form a yellowish-brown titanium tan- 
nate, which combines with the fiber of the leather, and which 
is fast and stable and brings up subsequent colors in a remark- 
able way. And, therefore, the leather in addition to being 
mordanted with the better mordant in preparation for the sub- 
sequent dyeing, is already, without any dye, given the yellow 
base necessary when all shades except lilac, gray and purple 
tones are wanted. All shades of yellow, tan, brown, green, 
red, maroon, and of dark blue, are thus ready for the dyeing to 
shade." 

Clearing the Grain of Grease. — Goatskins that have greasy 



THE MANUFACTURE OF GOATSKIN LEATHER. 279 

grain may be cleared by being drummed in a solution of lactic 
acid, made by adding one gallon of the acid to fifty gallons of 
water at no degrees Fahr. In this solution the skins are 
drummed for twenty minutes ; they are then washed and treated 
with sumac or other extract and colored. The acid solution 
not only removes surface grease but also opens up the grain a 
little, thus allowing the mordant and dye to go on more deeply 
and more uniformly. Too much vegetable tanning material 
gives the skins the appearance of vegetable -tanned leather and 
of being overtanned, which is considered a defect. Only such a 
quantity should be used as will serve to mordant the dye, say 
on light skins, from one to two pounds for one hundred 
pounds of leather. 

Dyeing with Natural Dyestuffs. 

A few practical receipts are here given by which chrome- 
tanned goatskins can be colored desirable shades without the 
use of either aniline or alizarine dyes. The cost of dyeing with 
dyewood extracts is less than with aniline dyes, and faster 
colors are obtained. 

Light Tail. — Take one hundred pounds of shaved skins and 
put them into a drum together with twelve gallons of water 
at 125 degrees Fahr. In a clean pail dissolve in hot water 
two pounds of fustic extract, lemon shade. Start the drum; 
and then pour into it the solution of fustic extract and 
drum the skins in it for one-half hour. Then dissolve in hot 
water and add to the liquor in the drum, four ounces of titan- 
ium-potassium oxalate and run the drum fifteen minutes longer. 
The skins are then colored and should be washed and fat- 
liquored. 

Dark Tan. — Run the skins in a solution of four pounds of 
fustic extract, red shade, at a temperature of 125 degrees Fahr. 
for thirty minutes, there being twelve gallons of the liquor for 
one hundred pounds of skins. When the thirty minutes are 
up, add to the liquor without stopping the drum, six ounces of 
titanium salt dissolved in a little hot water. Allow the drum 



28o PRACTICAL TANNING. 

to rotate fifteen minutes longer; then wash and fat-Hquor the 
skins, 

Oxblood Shade. — Dissolve by boiling in a few gallons of 
water two and one- fourth pounds of hypernic extract, one and 
one-half ounces of logwood extract and one-half ounce leather 
red for every hundred pounds of skins to be colored. Add 
sufficient water to make twelve gallons of liquor and use it at a 
temperature of 125 degrees Fahr. Drum the skins in this 
liquor one-half hour. Then dissolve and add to the contents 
of the drum, four and one-half ounces of titanium-potassium 
oxalate and allow the drum to rotate fifteen minutes longer. 
The skins are then ready to be washed and fat-liquored. This 
process produces a desirable shade of oxblood with less labor 
and expense than aniline dyes. 

Chocolate Brown. — For this shade use two and one-fourth 
pounds of fustic extract, lemon shade, ten ounces of hypernic 
extract and three ounces of logwood crystals in twelve gallons 
of hot water for one hundred pounds of skins. After the latter 
have been drumming in the liquor one-half hour, pour into the 
drum five ounces of titanium salt dissolved in hot water. Run 
the drum fifteen minutes; then wash and fat-liquor the skins. 

Dyeing with Aniline Dyes. 

A few receipts are given for some of the shades that are 
popular at the present time. A desirable shade of tan is ob- 
tained by using twelve ounces of phosphine G., three ounces of 
Bismarck brown, R. S., one-sixteenth ounce new blue and eight 
ounces of bichromate of potash for two hundred and fifty 
pounds of skins. Mordant the skins with gambier and fustic 
and titanium salt; then drain off the liquor, add first the phos- 
phine in solution and drum twenty minutes, then the brown, 
and run ten minutes, next the blue and run five minutes, and 
lastly the bichromate of potash and run the drum three min- 
utes longer. Wash and fat-liquor the skins. For an ox-blood 
shade, use amaranth 3 R and malachite green. Mordant with 
sumac, fustic or palmetto and titanium salt; then color with 



THE MANUFACTURE OF GOATSKIN LEATHER. 28 1 

from three to six ounces of amaranth 3 R and from one-eighth 
to one-fourth of an ounce of green for each dozen skins, ac- 
cording to size. After the skins are colored, wash and fat- 
hquor them. A correct shade of oxblood may be obtained on 
two dozen skins, measuring sixty feet to the dozen, by mor- 
danting them with a solution of hypernic extract, prepared by 
boiling thoroughly ten pounds of hypernic chips and straining 
the solution and running the skins in it. In place of hypernic 
chips, solution of fustic, sumac, or palmetto extract may be 
used, followed by a solution of titanium salt. Then for the 
two dozen skins use seven ounces of amaranth 3 R, dissolved 
by boiling and used at a temperature of 120 degrees Fahr. 

A desirable chocolate brown is obtained by using three 
ounces per dozen of chocolate brown 270 applied after a treat- 
ment with extract and titanium salt. Leather brown F. when 
saddened with a Httle green or blue, also produces a nice dark 
brown. 

The following dyes applied to skins mordanted with fustic 
and titanium-potassium oxalate produce a rich brown : For one 
dozen skins, four ounces of phosphine for leather, one-fourth 
of an ounce of leather green M. and one-half of an ounce of 
methyl violet 2 B. The dyes should be dissolved and mixed 
before they are used. 

Various shades of brown and tan are obtained by using phos- 
phine G. in conjunction with other dyes, such as greens, blues 
and purples, in varying proportions. 

The Water. — Hard water is unfit for use in leather dyeing. 
It should be soft and clean. Any water can be made more 
suitable for the purpose by having a little borax added to it, 
say one-half pound to one hundred gallons dissolved sepa- 
rately and stirred into it. Condensed steam, which can be 
collected by placing barrels under exhaust steam pipes, is 
excellent for use in coloring leather. Hard water should 
always be softened before it is used. 

Coloring after Fat- Liquoring wiik Sulphonated Oil. — Chrome- 
tanned goatskins may be finished into very soft and evenly 



282 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

colored leather by being washed and shaved after tanning, then 
fat-liquored with acid fat-liquor and then mordanted and col- 
ored. After the skins are fat-liquored, rinse them in warm 
water, put them into a drum, with a solution of gambler and 
and fustic or other extract, and drum together one-half hour. 
Then pour a solution of titanium salt into the drum and run the 
skins in the combined liquor fifteen minutes longer. Then 
drain the liquor out of the drum and apply the aniline dye. 
After the operation is finished, rinse the skins in warm water, 
strike them out and hang them up to dry. The finished leather 
will be all that could be desired. The process can also be car- 
ried out by applying the mordant first, then fat hquoring and 
coloring afterwards. 

Although acid-treated oil is most suitable for this process,, 
an emulsion of egg yolk and olive or neatsfoot oil may be used, 
as it imparts great softness and smoothness without injuring 
the color or making the leather greasy. 

Fat-Liquors for Colored and Black Goatskins. 

In order that the skins may be finished into soft and salable 
leather, it is necessary to treat them with some sort of oil or 
grease in order that they may acquire the required qualities of 
softness and silky feel. The process of fat-liquoring imparts 
these qualities. 

Various emulsions of oil, soap and egg yolk are in use. 
Nothing can be used, however, that will seriously effect the 
color or cause the leather to be greasy, sticky or spotted. After 
the coloring operations are finished, the skins should be washed 
and struck or pressed to rid them of the surplus water which 
would retard the penetration of the fat-liquor. A suitable 
drum is heated with live steam to about 140 degrees Fahr. ; 
whatever water there may be in it is drained out and the skins 
are thrown in, and drummed for five minutes so as to warm 
them. The fat-liquor is then added in portions of a gallon or 
two at a time until the necessary quantity has been given to the 
skins. The drum should be supplied with a hollow gudgeon or 



THE MANUFACTURE OF GOATSKIN LEATHER. 283 

axle and a funnel attached thereto so that the fat-liquor may be 
added without stopping the drum. Any excess of water in the 
skins should be guarded against as it prevents the uniform ab- 
sorption of the fat-liquor. After the fat-liquor has been applied 
the skins should be drummed in it for twenty or thirty min- 
utes or longer if they are thick and heavy; they should then be 
laid in piles or thrown smoothly over horses and covered up 
for twenty-four hours, so that before they are dried the fat- 
liquor may combine with the fibers. 

Receipt No. i . — Proportions for one dozen skins : 

Conti Castile Soap 4 ounces. 

Egg Yolk I pint. 

Good Olive Oil i'^ pint. 

Water 6 gallons. 

Chip the soap into the water and boil until it is dissolved ; 
add the oil and stir thoroughly and boil ten minutes. Cool the 
liquor to 95 degrees Fahr., and add the eggs, stirring thor- 
oughly. This is a good fat-liquor for either fat or colored 
skins. The quantities of ingredients named are for one dozen 
small, light skins. Use at 100 degrees Fahr. For very soft 
leather such as glove skins one pint of flour may be made into 
a thin paste with cold water and added to the fat-liquor. 

Receipt No. 2. — To make fifty gallons of fat-liquor use the 
following materials: 

Palermo Fig Soap 10 pounds. 

Neatsfoot or Cod Oil 4 gallons. 

Egg Yolk 10 pounds. 

Common Salt 2 pounds. 

Put the soap into a clean barrel together with a few gallons of 
water. Apply steam, and boil and stir the soap until it is dis- 
solved. Take the oil, which should be the best grade ob- 
tainable, and cut it by stirring into it a few ounces of borax, 
potash or sal soda, and add it to the dissolved soap, stirring 
several minutes until the oil and soap are thoroughly assimi- 
lated. Then run into the barrel forty gallons of cold water to 
cool the emulsion ; and finally stir in the egg-yolk and salt. 
Apply to the skins at a temperature not higher than 90 de- 



284 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

grees Fahr. Two gallons of this fat-liquor is sufficient for one 
dozen skins. Care should always be taken to cool the soap 
and oil emulsion before adding the egg-yolk, as the latter will 
coagulate if the emulsion is of a higher temperature than 75 
degrees Fahr. 

Receipt No. j. — This is a good fat-liquor for black skins and 
for skins dyed with alizarine dye : 

Good Fat-Liquor Soap 8 ounces. 

Olive Oil 2 pounds. 

Treated Cod Oil • 2 pounds. 

Salts of Tartar 3 ounces. 

Boil the soap in a few gallons of water until it is dissolved ; 
add the oil and boil and stir for fifteen minutes ; then add the 
salts of tartar dissolved in two quarts of water. Enough water 
should now be added to make twelve gallons of fat-liquor, this 
quantity being sufficient for one hundred pounds of skins. 
Use at 140 degrees Fahr. 

Receipt No. 4. — This is an excellent fat-liquor for heavy 

skins, black or colored : 

Conti Castile Soap 8 ounces. 

Olive Oil 2 pounds. 

Moellon Degras 2 pounds. 

Salts of Tartar 3 ounces. 

Any good fat-liquor soap can be used in place of the castile. 
The fat-liquor is prepared in the same manner as No. 2, the 
moellon degras being added after the oil and soap have been 
boiled and stirred. These quantities of material are for twelve 
gallons of fat-liquor, which is sufhcienf for one hundred 
pounds of skins. 

Receipt No. 5. — An excellent way to color and fat-liquor 
goatskins is to mordant them with vegetable tanning extract, 
then to fat-liquor them, using for one hundred pounds of skins : 

Acid Fat-Liquor <■. 4 pounds. 

Water at 1 25 degrees Fahr 10 gallons. 

Drum the skins in this fat-liquor thirty minutes, then color 

them with acid dye, wash them, strike them out, oil the grain, 

and dry out for finishing. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF GOATSKIN LEATHER. 285 

Acid fat-liquor may also be used after the skins have been 
colored. The exact quantity to use must be determined by 
the degree of softness that is wanted. From four to five 
pounds will generally be sufficient for one hundred pounds of 
leather. The drum should be heated up and the skins drummed 
in it until they are warm before applying the fat-liquor, so that 
the oil will not congeal. When the skins are taken out of the 
drum, rinse them in a tub of clean warm water to remove every 
trace of grease, strike them out, but do not oil the grain and 
then hang them up to dry. A very clear, bright finish can 
thus be obtained. 

The drum that is used should be perfectly clean and free from 
all soap, tanning material and grease ; the skins and the liquor 
must be warm, and the skins should be drummed in the liquor 
for thirty or forty minutes. The results will then be all that 
could be desired. 

Receipt No. 6. — For dull finished goatskins this fat-liquor is 
recommended : 

Palermo Fig or Other Soap i pound. 

Neatsfoot or Olive Oil 2 pounds. 

Moellon Degras 2 pounds. 

Caustic Soda i ounce. 

Boil the soap in a few gallons of water until it is dissolved j 
then add the oil and boil twenty minutes ; turn off the steam 
and add the degras to the mixture and stir very thoroughly for 
five minutes ; finally add the caustic soda dissolved in two quarts 
of water and add sufficient water to make twelve gallons of 
fat- liquor. Apply to the skins at a temperature of 125 degrees 
Fahr., and run them in it for one-half hour; then let them 
drain for twelve hours before striking them out, oiling the 
grain and drying out for finishing. 

Egg yolk may be used in place of moellon degras in making 
the fat-liquor. 

Oiling, Drying and Stakifig. — The next step is striking out 
the grain of each skin and then applying thereto a coat of 
glycerine and water, equal parts of each. This is put on with 



286 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

a rag or a sponge and evenly over the grain. The skins are 
then placed grain to grain over a horse and left to draw for an 
hour or two. The next operation is to again strike out the 
leather, this time somewhat harder than before, and to apply to 
the grain a light coat of oil. The leather should be very thor- 
oughly struck out, all wrinkles and marks of the tool removed 
and the grain laid down flat and smooth. The water should 
be well pressed out of the leather before the oil is applied. 

Any one of the following oils may be used : Neatsfoot, olive, 
sperm or any good special leather oil; mixtures of neatsfoot or 
olive and paraffineoils are also good. For instance, equal parts 
of neatsfoot and parafifine make a good oil for either glazed or 
dull finish. One part olive oil and three parts paraffine is an- 
other good oil mixture to use. Specially treated oil is better 
than the ordinary grade as it is less apt to gum and spew, and 
generally glazes brighter. It is good practice to heat the oil, 
applying it hot to the skins and rubbing it in with a sponge. 
The oil must be applied evenly and lightly since too much of it 
interferes with the attempts to get a bright finish. After being 
oiled, the skins are hung up to dry. Drying is most satisfac- 
torily effected in a moderately warm room provided with fans 
to keep the air in circulation. Colored skins should be dried 
in a dark room since strong light may cause the color to fade. 
When perfectly dry, they should be put into a cool, dry and 
clean room and left therein until it is necessary to finish them. 

Thorough preparation for staking is a matter of importance 
in order that the skins may work out soft with the least amount 
of labor. Take a dozen of them at a time and put them into 
warm water in a clean tub and leave them in the same long 
enough to become wet, then place them in piles or in a clean 
box, cover the top of the pile with wet burlap or canvas or 
sawdust, and leave them until the next morning, when they will 
be found in good condition to be staked. Staking and drying 
should be continued until they are worked out, dry and soft. 

Goatskins are generally staked both ways on staking 
machines. The necks and shanks are often staked by hand. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF GOATSKIN LEATHER. 287 

To remove roughness from the flesh, the skins are run on an 
emery wheel or on a fluffing machine. They are then seasoned 
and finished. 

Clearing the Grain of Grease. Receipt No. i . — Prepare a 
solution of lactic acid by adding one quart of the acid to eight 
quarts of water. This solution should be rubbed into the 
grain with a sponge, a light coat being applied and the skins 
dried. This treatment removes whatever grease there may be 
on the grain. 

Receipt No. 2. — Dissolve one ounce of black nigrosine in one 
gallon of water, and to the solution add a small quantity of 
wood alcohol. Apply this to the skins, rubbing it in well; 
then dry and apply seasoning. 

Seasonings for Glazed Finish. — A brilliant glazed finish can 
be obtained by using any of the seasonings prepared in accord- 
ance with the following formulas. The seasoning should be 
rubbed into the grain, a light and uniform coat being applied. 
The less seasoning used the better the finish. Two applica- 
tions of seasoning are always necessary to get a good finish 
and frequently it is advisable to apply a third coat. After the 
first coat has been applied, the skins are dried and glazed ; 
then the second coat is put on, and the skins again dried and 
glazed. 

Receipt No. i . — 

Logwood Liquor 6 quarts. 

Blood 2 quarts. 

Orchil ' •• y^ pint. 

Water i quart. 

Ammonia ^^ pint. 

Milk y^ pint. 

Receipt No. 2. — This receipt makes nine gallons of finish. 

Beef Blood 14 pints. 

Water i pint. 

Milk I pint. 

Glycerine 2 tablespoonfuls. 

Orchil >^ pint. 

Nigrosine solution 1 1^2 pints. 

Ammonia i pint. 

Logwood Liquor Sufficient. 



288 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

The nigrosine solution is made by dissolving one-half pound 
nigrosine black in a gallon of hot water. When all the in- 
gredients are mixed add enough strong logwood liquor, con- 
taining no alkali, to make nine gallons of finish. 

Receipt No. 3. — 

Logwood Liquor 6 gallons. 

Bichromate of Potash i ounce. 

Beef Blood ■ 2 quarts. 

Ammonia 2 quarts. 

Glycerine I quart. 

Vinegar Black 2 quarts. 

Dissolve the bichromate of potash in a little hot water ; add 
it to the logwood. Add a little carboHc acid to the blood ; 
then stir it into the logwood Hquor. Then add the glycerine, 
vinegar black, and lastly the ammonia. Stir the mixture while 
it is being made and then strain it through cloth. 

Receipt No. 4. — 

Blood Albumen i pound. 

Nigrosine J 5 ounces. 

Logwood Crystals • i ounce. 

Wood Alcohol I gill. 

Dissolve the blood albumen in two pounds of water over 
night. Put the nigrosine and logwood into three gallons of 
water and boil until dissolved ; when the solution is cold add 
the dissolved albumen and wood alcohol. A little carbohc 
acid may be added to the finish. 

The first glazing does not require such heavy pressure as 
the second and third glazings. Three light coats of seasoning 
and three glazings produce a more satisfactory finish than two 
heavy coats. The finishing requires skill and care in order 
that the luster will be clear and bright and the grain well set 
down. The Baker and Bower glazing machines are considered 
the best for glazing goatskins, some finishers preferring one, 
and others preferring the other. 

After the glazing is completed, the leather receives a very 
light coat of finishing oil. Very little oil is put on, the finish 
being merely wiped over with an oily sponge. This oiling is 
the finishing touch, the leather being then ready for market. 



THE MANUFACTURE OF GOATSKIN LEATHER. 289 

Receipt No. 5. — Seasoning for colored leather : 

Egg Albumen , 1 1^ gallons. 

Bichromate of Potash 1^ ounce. 

Acetic Acid • 10 ounces. 

Water 5 gallons. 

Dissolve the albumen in the water; add the other ingredi- 
ents, mix thoroughly; then add a teaspoonful of sperm oil and 
two quarts of water. Use this for the first seasoning. After 
the skins have been glazed once apply the following : 

Blood 3 gallons. 

Vinette 2 pints. 

Water 5 gallons. 

Prepared seasonings can be obtained ready-made. Many 
leather manufacturers prefer to buy them, and others to pre- 
pare them themselves. 

Dull Finish. — When dull finished leather is wanted, the 
skins are staked and trimmed, then given a coat of finish, hung 
up and dried, then given another coat of finish, dried again and 
then ironed with a hot iron. Heavy skins may finally be 
staked lightly; light ones staked or not according to their con- 
dition ; generally the ironing completes the process. Heavy 
skins staked after ironing feel softer and fuller than when not 
staked. A good seasoning for dull finish is made of: 

Ivory or other White Soap i pound. 

Neatsfoot Oil i pint. 

Whole Flaxseed 8 ounces. 

Beeswax 3 ounces. 

Nigrosine Black 3 ounces. 

Powdered Aloes i ounce. 

Wood Alcohol 1-^ pint. 

Boil the soap, oil, flaxseed and beeswax in two gallons of 
water; when the solution is cool, strain it. Dissolve the nigro- 
sine in a quart of water and add this solution to the first. Then 
dissolve the aloes in the wood alcohol and add it to the finish. 
Stir thoroughly for several minutes. This makes a fine dull 
finish with a nice dry feel. The grain for dull finish should be 
oiled with treated neatsfoot or dull morocco oil before the 
19 



290 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

skins are dried out. The oil h'elps the color and makes a soft 
grain. 

Processes for White Goat Leather. 

Tanning with Sulphate of Alumina. — Goatskins for white 
leather are limed, bated and pickled in the usual manner, or in 
the same manner as skins for glazed kid. Pickling may be 
done in a paddle vat or in a drum. Pickling in a paddle has 
been described ; pickling in a drum is done in the following 
manner: For each hundred pounds of skins use fifteen gallons 
of water, one pound of sulphuric acid and fifteen pounds of 
salt. ^ Drum the skins in this liquor from thirty minutes to one 
hour, according to their thickness, then horse them up 
smoothly and let them drain for several hours. 

Prepare the tanning liquor by boiling twelve pounds of Ger- 
man sulphate of alumina in ten gallons of water in a clean 
barrel or tub. In a clean pail dissolve by boiling in one gallon 
of water one and one-half pounds of bicarbonate of soda. Pour 
the soda solution very slowly and with constant stirring into 
the solution of sulphate of alumina. The mixing must be done 
very slowly or the liquor will be spoilt. When the liquor has 
become cold it is ready for use. 

To tan the skins, put them into the drum with ten gallons of 
water, in which have been dissolved one pound of Glauber's 
salt and three pounds of common salt. These quantities of 
water and salt are for one hundred pounds of pickled skins. 

Run the skins in this Glauber salt solution for fifteen minutes, 
then drain ofif the liquor. Dissolve four pounds of salt in ten 
gallons of water, 75 degrees Fahr., and put this solution into 
the drum with the skins and drum the skins in it for fifteen 
minutes. Then pour into the drum without stopping it, one- 
half of the alumina and soda solution and run the drum from 
two to three hours ; then take the skins out and horse them 
over night. The next day hang them up to dry. When they 
are dry, put them back into the drum with eight gallons of 
water and run the drum ten minutes; then add the other half 



THE MANUFACTURE OF GOATSKIN LEATHER. 29 1 

of the alumina and soda solution and drum the skins from two 
to three hours. The tanning is now completed. Drain the 
skins for twenty-four hours, then hang them up to dry. When 
they are dry, store them away for two weeks before finish- 
ing them. The fat-liquor that is applied to the skins is sul- 
phated oil or acid fat-liquor. For each one hundred pounds 
of dry skins take seven pounds of the oil and stir it into eight 
gallons of water, 95 degrees F^ahr. Dampen the skins and let 
them lay until the next day, then fat liquor them. Put them 
into the drum, which should be as clean as possible, with the 
warm oil solution and run them in it for forty minutes ; then 
place them over a horse until the next day. 

The next day strike them out on the grain and apply a mix- 
ture of French chalk, two parts of. glycerine and four parts of 
water. Give the grain a liberal coat of this dressing, and then 
hang the skins up to dry. 

When they are dry, dip them in warm water and roll 
into a tight roll and leave them over night. Then stake them 
out and tack them smoothly on boards. If they do not appear 
to be fully tanned, they can be retanned ; and if they are not 
as soft as desired they can be dampened and given another ap- 
plication of the fat-liquor. 

Sulphonated oil can be bought almost as cheaply as it can 
be made in the tannery. Castor oil is the most suitable oil for 
sulphonating and produces the most satisfactory results when 
used as a fat-liquor. 

Tanning with Alum, Flour and Salt. — When this process of 
tanning is used, it is best to remove the acid pickle from the 
skins by a drench of whiting and salt or one of sour bran and 
salt. One hundred pounds of drenched skins may be tanned 
with five pounds of alum, ten pounds of salt and twenty pounds 
of wheat flour. These materials are dissolved and made, into 
a pastelike liquor with ten gallons of lukewarm water and ap- 
plied to the skins in a drum. They are drummed in the 
same for from one to two hours or until they have absorbed 
the ingredients of the paste. They are then hung up and dried 



292 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

and kept for some time before they are fat-liquored and fin- 
ished. Fat-liquoring is done with sulphonated or Turkey-red 
oil, the skins being then dried again, staked and tacked. If 
colored skins are wanted they can be colored and then fat- 
liquored or they can be colored after they are fat-liquored, 
dried and staked. 

Mocha Castor Glove Leather. 

The tanner who wants to make mocha castor glove leather 
from kid and goat skins will find the following described pro- 
cess satisfactory. 

The dry skins require, first of all, very thorough soaking. 
Soak them in clear, cold water for twenty-four to thirty-six 
hours, then drain and cut them open. To further soften the 
skins and to make them perfectly clean for the Hme, run them 
in a mill with plenty of water, then let them drain before flesh- 
ing and liming them. 

Liming should be done in clean, white limes, using no red 
arsenic or sulphide of sodium. The first lime should be clean, 
white and weak, the skins being passed from it into stronger 
lime and Hmed very thoroughly ; or a gathering lime can be 
used by hauling the skins out each day and adding fresh Hme. 
When the hair comes off" easily, the skins should be unhaired 
and the grain frizzed. After frizzing, put the skins in weak 
lime water for two or three days, then wash them in warm 
water and drench them. 

Drenching is done with lactic acid, in a drum. One hun- 
dred skins, unhaired and washed, require about one quart of 
acid in ten pails of water at a temperature of 90 degrees Fahr. 
Mill the skins in this solution for one hour, then rinse them in 
warm water, let them drain and they are then in condition to 
be tanned. 

The tanning is done with alum, salt, egg yolk and flour. 
For each dozen skins, dissolve twelve ounces of alum and four 
ounces of salt so as to make a pail of liquor and mill the skins 
in this solution for thirty minutes ; then add one pail of flour 



THE MANUFACTURE OF GOATSKIN LEATHER. 293 

for each ten dozen skins and one quart of fresh egg yolks, and 
mill the skins thirty minutes longer. Take them out of the 
drum and hang them up to dry. When they are dry, put 
them away in a dry, cool place for a few weeks to give them 
time to become entirely tanned. To finish the skins, 'dampen 
them and mill them in flour, then knee-stake them, dry them 
and then run them on an emery set with fine emery'. After 
this has been done, wash them with water, and give them 
two quarts of egg yolk to twelve dozen skins. Then dry them 
again, knee-stake them, and finish them on the finest emery. 

The skins should now be very soft, dry and white, and can 
be used for white gloves or other purposes for which such goods 
are required. If colored skins are wanted, they can be easily 
colored any shade as they take the dye readily; then staked 
and finished with the finest flour emery. The finished leather, 
when the work has been properly done, is very soft and full 
and either a nice white or of a deep and uniform color. This 
process can also be used on skins with the grain on. Sul- 
phonated oil may be used in place of egg yolk. It is dissolved 
in warm water and the skins milled in the solution. They 
acquire by this treatment great softness and strength and a 
finer appearance. These methods of tanning are excellent for 
any kind of kid glove leather. 



SECTION SIX. 
Chrome-Tanned Sole Leather. 

This leather is of comparatively recent introduction and 
being something of an experiment has not yet come into gen- 
eral use. It possesses several qualities that assure for it con- 
tinued and increasing sale as time goes by. It is more water- 
proof than vegetable-tanned sole leather, and is more durable. 
It is confidently predicted by those who are in position to 
speak with knowledge of conditions and tendencies that chrome 
sole leather is the sole leather of the future. 

The manufacture of this leather is not as difficult nor com- 
plicated as some tanners would have others believe. It is 
really more easily made than chrome upper, or vegetable- 
tanned sole leather. The most essential points to be observed 
are selection of proper hides at the beginning, and liming and 
bating them so as to leave them as plump as possible, and 
filling of the finished leather with waterproof filling. 

Plump hides that weigh from forty to sixty-five pounds are 
the most suitable ; those of large spread will not do. The 
manufacture of this leather calls for drums, paddle wheels and 
tacking frames, by means of which the various processes can 
be carried out most expeditiously. The tanner of chrome sole 
leather should be in position to place the hides not suitable for 
his purpose, as they can be made into some other kind of 
leather. 

Soaking. — The hides are soaked in the same manner as for 
other heavy leather. Trimming is done in the hide cellar, and 
the hides are then soaked in clean cold water. It is advisable 
to hang them in the water as better results are obtained by this 
method than by throwing them into the water. The latter, if 

( 294 ) 



CHROME-TANNED SOLE LEATHER. 295 

hard, can be softened and its soaking and cleansing powers 
increased by adding a solution of five pounds of borax to one 
thousand gallons of it. After the hides have been hanging in 
the water twenty-four hours, they should be taken out and 
washed a few minutes, then put back into the same soak for 
another twenty-four hours. They may then be split into sides 
and fleshed and put back into clean cold water for twenty- 
four hours. Sometimes they are fleshed after the last twenty- 
four hours' soaking. After soaking and fleshing have been 
accomplished they are toggled together a^d started in the lim- 
ing process. 

Liming. — Liming is effected most satisfactorily by having a 
row of limes and reeling the hides from one lime into another 
for six days, which is usually sufificient. The first lime is pre- 
pared by using two pounds of lime for one hundred pounds of 
hides, slaking the lime and adding it to the water in the vat or 
pit. The hides remain in this lime twenty-four hours ; they 
are then reeled into the second lime, which, like the first, con- 
tains two per cent, of lime to the weight of the hides. After 
the stock has been in this second lime twenty-four hours it is 
reeled into the third lime, which should contain one and one- 
half pounds of lime and one pound of sulphide of sodium to 
each one hundred pounds of it. At the end of twenty-four 
hours the hides are passed into the fourth lime which should 
be same as lime number 3. The fifth and sixth limes should 
each contain two pounds of lime to each one hundred pounds 
of hides, the latter remaining in each lime twenty-four hours. 
A little sulphide of sodium may be used in the last two limes, 
but the quantity should be small, and sometimes it may be 
omitted entirely, depending upon the condition of the stock. 
After the hides have been in the sixth lime twenty-four hours 
they should be reeled into water of about 80 degrees Fahr., 
and left in it three or four hours, when they will be found to 
be in condition for unhairing on a machine. After unhairing, 
they are put back into clean warm water and then worked 
thoroughly over the beam, washed in cold water when they are 



296 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

ready to be bated with lactic acid. Very heavy hides may 
require one day longer in the lime ; it may be necessary to 
reflesh after unhairing. These and other minor points must 
be decided by the judgment of the tanner. 

Reeling from one lime into another should be done carefully, 
and each hide should be spread out as much as possible, which 
insures more uniform results than when they are thrown in 
carelessly or in bunches. Liming can also be done by sus- 
pending the hides in the lime liquor, by the use of paddle 
wheels and also by first removing the hair by means of sulphide 
of sodium, and then liming two or three days. Careful working 
out of the grain insures clean, elastic grain that will not readily 
crack. 

The limes should be cleaned out every four weeks, starting 
with the first one and cleaning the series in rotation. 

Bating. — The removal of the lime from the hides is accom- 
plished most effectively and with the least danger and unpleas- 
antness by the use of lactic acid and warm water, the process 
being performed in a paddle vat. The required amount of 
water is run into the vat and heated to 85 degrees Fahr., and 
three pounds of lactic acid to each one hundred pounds of 
hides, hair weight, are added ; the bath is then plunged or 
stirred and the hides are put into it. They may be stirred 
about in the bate for one or two hours, left in over night and 
then run one hour in the morning, or they can be paddled four 
or five hours, then taken out and washed for ten minutes. 
The lactic acid bate should be made fresh for every pack of 
hides. The temperature should not exceed 85 degrees Ffahr., 
and a cold bate can be used, containing salt as well as lactic 
acid. After the hides have been bated and washed in cold 
water they are ready to be pickled and tanned. This method 
of treatment removes the lime from them without depleting 
them too much. 

Pickling. — There are two methods of pickling and tanning 
hides for sole leather. One consists of pickling with sulphate 
of alumina and salt and tanning in vats, and the other of 



CHROME-TANNED SOLE LEATHER. 297 

pickling with sulphuric acid and salt and tanning in pits or 
rocker vats. In each case one-bath chrome liquor is used, it 
being the most satisfactory way to tan heavy chrome leather. 

When pickHng is effected with sulphate of alumina and salt, 
five or six pounds of the former and eighteen pounds of the 
latter dissolved in fifteen gallons of water are used for each one 
hundred pounds of hides in the pack. The liquor should 
be cold when used, and the hides be run in it in a drum 
from two to three hours. One-half of the solution should be 
put into the drum, and after the hides have been drummed in 
it one hour, the other half should be put into the drum and 
drumming continued from one to two hours longer. The hides 
can then be drained twenty-four hours and either hung up and 
dried, dampened and tanned, or put at once into the tanning 
liquor. The better process is to hang them up to dry after 
draining at least twelve hours, since this method makes firmer 
and more solid leather. When dry they are dampened and 
made soft and pliable in a tub of warm water, then drummed 
in cold water for fifteen minutes, which puts them into con- 
dition to be tanned. 

The process of pickling with sulphuric acid and salt is as 
follows : For each one hundred gallons of water in a paddle 
vat fifty pounds of salt are used. The washed hides are 
weighed, and for every one hundred pounds of them one and 
one-half pounds of sulphuric acid and six pounds of salt are 
added to the salt water in the vat. The liquor is thoroughly 
plunged and the hides put in. The paddle is run one hour, 
then allowed to rest two hours ; next again run one hour and 
the hides are left in over night. The next morning they are 
placed smoothly over horses and allowed to drain twenty-four 
hours, when they are put into the tan liquor. 

Taniiing. — Hides pickled with sulphate of alumina, and 
dried and softened with warm water are tanned by suspension 
in chrome tanning liquor; those pickled with acid and salt may 
also be tanned by the suspension method or by the use of 
rocker vats. The liquor for acid pickled hides should contain 
considerable salt to hold the acid in check. 



298 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

A practical method of tanning hides pickled with alumina and 
salt is carried out as follows : For each one hundred gallons of 
water in the vat five pounds of concentrated chrome liquor are 
dissolved and added. Then for each one hundred pounds of 
hides from fourteen to sixteen pounds of chrome material are 
dissolved in six gallons of hot water. This solution is divided 
into four portions. One portion is added to the liquor in the 
vat ; the hides are tacked on sticks with brass nails and sus- 
pended in the prepared tanning bath. They must not be hung 
too closely together, and should be entirely covered by the 
liquor. After they have been in the liquor twenty-four hours 
they are taken out and allowed to drain off, the liquor running 
back into the vat. The second portion of tanning material is 
then added to the liquor, plunged, and the hides are put back, 
their positions being changed from what they were during the 
previous immersion. At the end of the second twenty-four 
hours, they are hauled out and drained as before and, after 
adding the third portion of chrome liquor to the liquor in the 
vat, they are put back and left in another twenty-four hours. 
They are then raised out of the tan and, after adding the fourth 
portion of tanning material, are put back and left in the liquor 
two days. After draining a few hours they are again put into 
the liquor and kept therein two or three days, at the end of 
which time they should be tanned through. To test the tan- 
nage a piece of the thickest part of a butt may be put into 
boiling water for a few minutes. If it draws up and becomes 
hard, the leather is not fully tanned and should be put back 
into strengthened liquor until it is tanned. If the piece does 
not draw up but remains flat the leather is tanned. Ordinarily 
no retanning or further tanning is required as the leather will 
be found to be well tanned, full and plump. The leather 
should lay in smooth piles for several days. It should then 
be washed in warm borax water, three pounds of borax 
and fifteen gallons of warm water being used for one hundred 
pounds of it. In this water the hides are washed forty min- 
utes, then one hour with running water, next drained and 
pressed for fat-liquoring and finishing. 



. CHROME-TANNED SOLE LEATHER. 299 

The tanning liquor for acid pickled stock may be the same 
as for alumina pickled hides, but it should contain forty pounds 
of salt for each one hundred gallons of liquor. Tanning in 
rockers for harness, belt and strap leather will later on be fully 
described, and the same method and procedure may be followed 
in tanning sole leather. 

After the leather has been washed and pressed it is given a 
light fat-liquor of two pounds of soap and one pound of neats- 
foot or cod oil in twelve gallons of water at 150 degrees Fahr., 
for one hundred pounds, and drummed in this fat- liquor three- 
fourths of an hour, then set out hard and tacked on frames to 
dry. When perfectly dry it is filled with the waterproof filling, 
this being very important in finishing it and making it water- 
proof and durable. Tanners can buy the filling accompanied 
by full directions for its use. Chrome sole leather is also given 
weight and filling after it is tanned by being drummed in que- 
bracho extract. It is claimed that seven to eight pounds of 
quebracho liquor, 70° barkometer, for each side of leather 
should be drummed into the latter after the chrome tanning is 
completed. Leather treated in this manner resembles vege- 
table tanned sole leather in appearance, repels moisture, wears 
well and can be sold by the pound the same as the older tan- 
nage. This combination process takes about thirty days from 
the raw hide to the finished product. 

Chrome-tanned Harness Leather. 

In the handling of hides for chrome harness leather the 
methods of depilating and bating must be such as not to de- 
plete them, and to preserve the strength of the fibers. In order 
to get heavy leather heavy hides must be used, weighing from 
sixty to eighty pounds, and they must be plump, since there is 
no way of plumping chrome leather. The hides are trimmed 
and hung in cold water to soak. After soaking twenty-four 
hours they are split into sides, put back into the water and 
soaked twenty-four hours longer ; they are then fleshed and 
soaked over night in fresh water. Splitting into sides and flesh- 



300 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

ing can also be done after the hides have soaked forty-eight 
hours, they being then resoaked over night to be made as soft 
and clean as possible before being Hmed. 

Liming. — The sides are next toggled together in a long 
chain and put into the first lime. For one hundred pounds of 
them two pounds of lime in sufficient water constitute the first 
lime; in this they remain twenty-four hours when they are 
reeled into the second lime. 

The latter should contain two pounds of lime and one and 
one-half pounds of sulphide of sodium for one hundred pounds 
of hides. The lime should be slaked with hot water and the 
sulphide of sodium, dissolved separately, mixed with it. The 
lime and sulphide mixture is put into the required amount of 
water in vat No. 2 and the sides are then reeled into the liquor 
and left therein twenty-four hours. The third lime should, like 
the second, contain two pounds of lime and one and one-half 
pounds of sulphide of sodium for one hundred pounds of hides. 
The latter are reeled from the second into the third lime and 
left in the same twenty-four hours. 

The fourth lime should contain two per cent, of the weight 
of the hides of Hme, the same as the first lime, the hides re- 
maining in it twenty-four hours, when they are passed into 
clean warm water of 90 degrees Fahr., from which, after three 
or four hours, they are unhaired on the unhairing machine. 
After the hair has been removed they should be washed with 
running water for fifteen minutes, then put into clean warm 
water for two hours, after which they are fine-haired and 
worked on the grain. Thorough working out of the grain is 
necessary to insure clean, tough grain that will not crack. 

Bating. — This may be done with chicken manure, lactic 
acid, Dermiforma or Puerine. Chicken manure should be 
soaked in warm water for thirty-six hours before it is used. 
Two bushels of dry material are stirred into twenty-five gallons 
of water, heated to 130 degrees Fahr. One hundred and fifty 
sides require two bushels of the soaked manure, added to warm 
water in the vat in which the bating is to be done. The hides 



CHROME-TANNED SOLE LEATHER. 301 

are processed in the bate-liquor for one hour, then allowed to 
rest two hours, next run half an hour, and then left in the liquor 
one hour. They should now be fully bated, but if they are 
not, the liquor may be warmed up and bating continued a 
while longer. When bated they should be washed off and put 
into a cold lactic acid bath over night, using one pound of acid 
to each hundred pounds of hides. In the morning they are in 
condition to be pickled. 

Bating with lactic acid is done in the following manner: For 
every one hundred pounds of hides from one to two pounds of 
lactic acid are used in water at 90 degrees Fahr. The paddle 
is run one hour and the hides are then left in the liquor over 
night. The next morning the paddle is again run for one-half 
hour ; the hides are then washed with clean water and put into 
the pickling liquor. The manure or other bacterial bate pro- 
duces finer grained leather than the lactic acid process. 

Pickling. — This process is carried out in a paddle vat. To 
each hundred gallons of water in the vat thirty pounds of com- 
mon salt are added, and to this liquor, for each hundred pounds 
of hides, one and one-half pounds of sulphuric acid and fifteen 
pounds of salt. For succeeding packs fifteen pounds of salt 
and one and one-half pounds of acid are taken, thirty pounds 
of salt being only used for the first pack. 

The paddle should be run for one hour, then allowed to rest 
two hours, then run one-half hour, and the hides left in the 
liquor over night. The next morning they are removed and 
placed in piles for twenty-four hours; they are then put into 
the tan liquor. 

Tanning. — A good way to tan the hides so as to get full 
flanks and bellies and a fine smooth grain is by the use of 
rocker vats. For every hundred gallons of water in the vat 
thirty-five pounds of salt are used, and after plunging the water, 
one gallon of concentrated chrome liquor is added. The hides 
are hung in the liquor and rocked six hours ; another gallon 
of tan liquor is now added and they are rocked two hours 
and then left until the next day. One gallon more of the tan 



302 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

liquor is then added and the rocker is run six hours ; another 
gallon of tan liquor is then added, the hides are rocked one 
hour and then left at rest until the next day, when another gal- 
lon of chrome material is added to the liquor, making five gal- 
lons in all. The hides are then rocked four or five hours. 
Four ounces of borax are then dissolved for each hundred 
pounds of hides and the solution is added to the tan liquor, the 
rocker being run one hour and then allowed to rest until the 
next morning. On the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh days 
the hides are rocked two hours in the morning and two hours 
in the afternoon. The test for tannage is to boil a piece of 
thickest hide. If it remains soft the hides are tanned ; if it 
curls up and becomes stiff they are not fully tanned and must 
be left in longer and the liquor must be strengthened. 

When the leather is tanned it is piled down in smooth piles 
for forty-eight hours. It is next washed for half an hour in a 
bath composed of one pound of borax in fifteen gallons of water 
for each hundred pounds of leather, and then for one hour in 
cold running water. 

Another practical mode of tanning consists of pickling the 
hides with sulphate of alumina and salt, then drying them, 
dampening and softening with warm water, and finally tanning 
by suspending them in chrome liquor. This process is fully 
described in the section on chrome sole leather. It produces 
plump, well tanned leather. 

Retanning. — After the leather is fully tanned and washed it 
is retanned with quebracho extract or with gambler, preferably 
with the former. For each average side from one to two 
pounds of solid quebracho extract are used. The extract is . 
dissolved in boiling water; enough water is then added to 
make fifteen gallons of liquor for each hundred pounds of 
leather. The sides are run in the liquor one hour, then placed 
in piles until the next day, when they are either pressed or put 
through a wringer. If pressed, they should be run in a dry 
mill for fifteen minutes to remove the press marks. The 
leather is then shaved just enough to remove the flesh and 



CHROME-TANNED SOLE LEATHER. 303 

make the backs smooth and clean. When gambler is used, 
about four pounds of it are required for one hundred pounds of 
leather; otherwise the process is the same as with quebracho. 

Blacking and Stuffing. — The leather, retanned and shaved, 
is now in condition to be blacked and stufTed, There are two 
courses that may be pursued. The leather may be blacked 
and then stuffed or it may be first stufTed, then dried, buffed 
and blacked. Both methods will here be described. 

When the leather is blacked first and then stufTed, it is taken, 
a side at a time, slicked out smooth on a table and given a coat 
of logwood liquor, then a coat of striker, next another coat of 
logwood and more striker, after which it is washed, run through 
a wringer, and put into condition for stufiftng. 

The logwood liquor is made of six pounds of logwood crys- 
tals and two pounds of borax in fifty gallons of water. The 
striker is made of seven pounds of copperas and five pounds of 
blue vitriol in fifty gallons of water, although any other good 
striker may be used. The leather, after it has been wrung, is 
ready to be stufifed. One hundred pounds of it requires ten 
pounds of hard wax, ten pounds of best stearine and five 
pounds of good hard grease. The materials should be boiled 
and thoroughly mixed and applied to the leather in a hot drum. 
The leather is drummed forty minutes, then placed in pile.s, 
covered up and left until the next day. It is then struck out 
on the flesh side, hung up until partly dry, and next stoned out 
on the grain. The grain is then given a light coat of cod oil 
and again gone over with the stone and slicker. The leather 
is then hung up to dry. If it is to be stuffed after shaving and 
blacked later, it should be hung up and dried until about 
three-fourths dry before it is stufifed. The bellies and flanks 
should have more moisture in them than the rest of the side. 

The stuffing described above may be used, or a mixture of 
stearine, tallow and wax. The latter is made of sixty per cent, 
stearine, twenty per cent, tallow and twenty per cent, hard wax, 
heated to 190 degrees Fahr. Of this mixture twenty-four 
pounds are used for one hundred pounds of leather. The 



304 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

leather is weighed and run a few minutes in the hot drum. 
The stuffing is then thrown in and the drum run forty-five 
minutes. After lying in a covered pile over night the leather 
is struck out on flesh and grain, and hung up to dry. When it 
is partly dry, the grain is reset, when it is again hung up and 
thoroughly dried. When dry, the scratches and imperfections 
can be bufifed from the grain, and it is then ready to be blacked 
with logwood and striker. A sig to prepare the leather for the 
logwood is necessary. After the leather has been blacked it is 
washed off, slicked and hung up to dry. 

Finishing is done with mutton tallow and cod oil. Three 
pounds of the former and two pounds of the latter are melted 
together, and the grain is given a good coat of the mixture, 
which is thoroughly glassed in, the leather being then left in a 
pile for twenty-four hours. It is then reglassed, which is the 
finishing touch. 

In case a dry feeling leather is wanted the sides are seasoned 
with a solution of blood albumin, isinglass and nigrosine in log- 
wood liquor, then dried and oiled off with hot paraffine oil or 
with a mixture of paraffine and neatsfoot oils. Sometimes a 
coat of starch decoction is applied to the fiesh side. 

By using seven pounds of quebracho liquor, 70 degrees bark- 
ometer, for each side, weight and solidity are given the leather. 
Chrome-tanned harness leather made by the methods that have 
been described has far greater tensile strength and is more 
waterproof than the ordinary bark-tanned product. 

Chrome-tanned Belt and Strap Leathers. 

Hides for these two classes of leather are treated in the 
beamhouse in the same manner as those for chrome harness 
and sole leathers. For belting leather, however, they are trim- 
med into butts after liming or after bating. The butts should 
be about four and a half feet long and four feet wide, though 
some will be four and a half feet wide. The bellies and heads 
are tanned with extract and sold for ofTal. The butts are then 
tanned with one-bath chrome tanning material in a drum or in 



CHROME-TANNED SOLE LEATHER. 305 

a vat. Tanning in a drum is effected by pickling the butts and 
tanning them according to the procedure outlined for chrome 
upper leather. When a vat is used the process is the same as 
for harness and sole leathers. 

After the butts have been tanned and washed they are fat- 
liquored with a fat-liquor of soap, oil and degras. One hun- 
dred pounds of leather require one pound of soap^ five pounds 
of degras and two pounds of neatsfoot oil boiled an hour in 
water to which six ounces of borax have been added. There 
should be twelve gallons of fat-liquor. The butts are first run 
in a drum for fifteen minutes with twelve gallons of water at 
160 degrees Fahr., and four ounces of salts of tartar for each 
hundred pounds of leather. The water is then drained off and 
after the fat-liquor, warmed to 140 degrees Fahr., has been put 
in, the leather is run in it forty-five minutes. It is then placed 
in piles for twenty-four hours when it is taken and set out good 
and hard. The grain is oiled with cod oil or with a mixture 
of cod and paraffine oils ; the butts are then hung up to dry. 
The next operation is stretching, the object being to get all the 
stretch out of the leather. The butts are soaked in hot water 
and piled down over night. The next day they are stretched 
in belt stretchers as tightly as possible and allowed to get 
thoroughly dry, when they are finished and ready for cutting 
up into belts. 

Good leather is also made by fat-liquoring the butts with a 
soap solution, drying and dampening them and then stuffing 
them with German degras, paraffin and paraffin oil. Drying 
and stretching are effected in the manner as above described. 
A satisfactory stuffing mixture is made of four pounds of cod 
oil, two pounds of black degras and six pounds of stearine for 
one hundred pounds of leather. No soap is used with this 
stuffing which is applied at a temperature of 165 degrees Fahr. ; 
the butts are then dried and finished. 

The trimmings taken from chrome belts maybe retanned with 
hemlock or oak liquor and sold as trimmings from oak belts. 
They are first drummed in hot salt solution, next given a light 
20 



306 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

retail with hemlock extract and then laid away in strong hem- 
lock or oak liquor, preferably the latter, until they are colored 
through, when they are dried and sold. 

Strap Leather. 

There are numerous uses for which soft strap leather is suit- 
able. The beamhouse treatment and the tanning are the same 
as for chrome harness leather. After the leather is tanned it 
is washed, shaved and fat-liquored with four pounds of moellon 
degras, two pounds of cod oil, two pounds of wool grease, one 
pound of soap and eight ounces of alkali boiled and made into 
an emulsion with twelve gallons of water, this quantity being 
enough for one hundred pounds of leather. 

After the leather has been drummed in this fat-liquor forty- 
minutes, the latter is drained off, and the leather is washed in 
warm water containing one pint of ammonia to ten gallons of 
water. This water is drained ofT at the end of ten minutes, and 
the leather is then retanned with gambler, four pounds of it 
dissolved in fifteen gallons of water being used for one hundred 
pounds of stock. The leather is drummed in this liquor one 
hour ; it is then set out on the grain and hung up to dry. Any 
rough spots can be buiifed off before it is finished. 

The finish is made by boiling eight ounces of Irish moss, 
eight ounces of starch, eight ounces of soap and one pint of 
olive oil in four gallons of water for thirty minutes; when cool 
the solution is strained and enough water is added to make 
eight gallons of finish. The leather is given a coat of this 
finish, staked on the flesh side, rolled and hung up to dry or 
tacked in frames. It should be rolled immediately after stak- 
ing and before it has dried. When it is dry it is given a second 
coat of finish, dried and rolled again. This process makes very 
tough, pliable and durable leather that will outwear the best 
bark-tanned product made. 



SECTION SEVEN. 
The Manufacture of Genuine Kangaroo Leather. 

Kangaroo skins are characterized by great suppleness, 
toughness, and a grain several times thicker than the grain oi 
any other kind of skin. The grain, after tanning, is very com- 
pact and resists the penetration of water and moisture ; and it 
does not peel off or crack as that of goat skins docs. On ac- 
count of these qualities kangaroo leather is splendid shoe ma- 
terial, standing in a class by itself, and is especially suitable for 
shoes for tender feet. Kangaroo skins come from Australia 
and are received by the tanner in dried condition. Excellent 
leather is made by tanning the skins in a chrome process; also 
by tanning with quebracho, gambier, palmetto, and by the 
combination process. The finishes are glazed and dull, the 
former for vamps of shoes and the latter for tops of patent 
leather shoes. Several practical methods of tanning kangaroo 
and wallaby skins will be described in this section. 

Soaking and Softening. — The skins, having been dried as 
soon as they were taken from the animals, are hard and dry 
and resist the penetration of water to an unusual degree. Clear 
water softens them very slowly, and it is therefore necessary to 
use some chemical that will soften them more quickly than 
water alone will do it. Tanner's soda, borax or sulphide of 
sodium prove satisfactory for the purpose. By tanner's soda 
is meant what is known as Wyandotte soda. Forty or fifty 
pounds of this material dissolved in hot water in a barrel and 
poured into the soak vat softens the water so that it readily 
penetrates the skins, the quantity stated being enough for 
twelve hundred gallons of water. 

Borax thoroughly softens the water and helps in giving the 

^ 307 ) 



308 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

skins a soft and silky grain. Five or six pounds of it are 
enough for one thousand gallons of water. Dissolve it in hot 
water, pour the solution into the soak and stir vigorously ; then 
put in the skins. 

When sulphide of sodium is used in the soak from one to 
two pounds, more or less, may be dissolved and added to every 
hundred gallons of water. Water containing sulphide of 
sodium readily softens the hardest skins and brings them back 
to the natural soft condition and freshens up the dried and 
withered grain. 

The skins may also be softened in a strong lime or solution 
of salt and water ; this quickly penetrates them and opens them 
out. The salt should be removed by washing before liming. 
Soaking can be hastened by drumming the skins when suffici- 
ently soft in a drum, then putting them back into the water. 
But when sulphide of sodium or other material is used in the 
soaks it is not necessary to drum them unless they soften 
slowly ; in that case running them in a drum assists materially in 
making them soft. Clean water is undoubtedly the best for soak- 
ing. Water in which previous lots of skins have been soaked 
softens them quite rapidly but its use has unpleasant features 
that make it less satisfactory than clean water. When the 
skins are sufificiently soft, they are drained and fleshed, and all 
flesh and fat removed before they are limed. There are several 
processes that can be used in liming and depilating, a few of 
which will here be described. Leather that is soft and supple,, 
with a clear, fine and silky grain can be made only when the 
skins are properly limed and bated. More depends upon how 
these processes are done than upon any subsequent treatment. 
Skins that are properly prepared for tanning, tan and finish into 
fine, soft and durable leather. 

Liming. — A good liming process for kangaroo skins is car- 
ried out in the following manner : To start with, the skins are 
put into a weak lime made up of sufficient water for the pack 
of them and two per cent, of lime, that is two pounds for every 
hundred pounds of soaked skins. After being in this liquor 



MANUFACTURE OF GENUINE KANGAROO LEATHER. 309 

one day, they are hauled out, and put back after plunging the 
liquor. On the third day two per cent, more of lime, well 
slaked, should be given ; on the fourth day the skins are hauled 
out, and then put back after plunging the liquor. To strengthen 
the lime on the fifth day three per cent, of lime and one and a 
half per cent, of red arsenic, slaked and dissolved together, 
should be added ; and on the sixth day the skins are hauled 
out and put back so that those that were on top before are now 
at the bottom, and those previously at the bottom are on top. 
On the seventh day three per cent, of lime and one and a half 
per cent, of red arsenic are added ; on the eighth day it is ad- 
visable to haul the skins out and to warm the liquor to 80 
degrees Fahr., then to put them back and after leaving them 
one day longer, to unhair them. If they are thoroughly soft- 
ened and fleshed clean before they are put into the lime, the 
hair will come off easily ; they are then washed ten minutes in 
a wash wheel in cold water, refleshcd and worked for fine hair. 
The exact quantity of lime to use and the number of days to 
leave them in the lime depend upon their thickness. Thin, 
light wallaby skins can, of course, be limed in less time than 
heavy ones. The liming process described is for medium 
heavy skins. After fine-hairing, they are ready for bating. 

A good liming process in which sulphide of sodium is used, 
that produces first-class results and that does not require fine- 
hairing is as follows : For one hundred pounds of skins three 
per cent, of lime and one and a half per cent, of sulphide of 
sodium are used as a first lime. In this the skins remain one 
day ; they are then hauled out and the same quantities of lime 
and sodium added. On the third day, the skins are hauled 
out, and put back after plunging the lime ; on the fourth day, the 
liquor is warmed to 80 degrees Fahr., the skins put back and 
left until the fifth day, when they are unhaired, washed, and 
bated. 

A new lot of skins is started in the old lime, left in one day 
and then put into a new lime, using six per cent, of lime and 
three per cent, of sulphide of sodium, and on the third and 



3IO PRACTICAL TANNING. 

fourth days they are handled the same as the first lot, thus 
starting in an old lime and finishing out of new and fresh lime. 
Good skins are made by this process. 

The skins can also be treated with sulphide of sodium in a 
drum and then limed a few days. In this process the hair is 
destroyed, but very tough and fine-grained leather results. 
For ten dozen skins twelve pounds of sulphide of sodium is 
dissolved in hot water in a tub or barrel. The skins and ten 
pailfuls of cold water are put into a drum, the solution of sul- 
phide of sodium is then added, the drum is closed and the 
skins are drummed in the liquor for two hours and then left in 
the same over night. The next morning they are taken out of 
the drum, washed in cold water and then put into clean weak 
lime liquor for a few days. A liming should always follow the 
sulphide treatment or the skins will not be quite so fine tex- 
tured when they are finished. Washing, refleshing and bating 
then follow as usual and they are then pickled and tanned. 

Bating and Drenching. — A bacterial bate, such as Puerine 
and manure, give results in leather-making that other bating 
materials do not. It is the bacterial action of these bates 
which produces that softness and elasticity of grain, silkiness of 
texture and fine feel that are so much desired in the finished 
leather. Puerine is a substitute for manures in bating. It is a 
powder that is efilicient and rapid in action, uniform in strength 
and cleanly to handle. Directions for using this article are 
furnished by the manufacturers, so they need not be given 
here. Bating should be done in a paddle vat which has a steam 
pipe with a box around it, so that the bate can be warmed 
while the skins are in it. To make a manure bate, one or two 
bushels of the material should be added to warm water in a 
barrel, stirred and mashed, and allowed to stand a few days or 
a week. When it is to be used, the material should be strained 
and poured into the paddle vat holding the volume of water 
required ; the temperature of the bate is then raised to 95 de- 
grees Fahr.. the skins are thrown in, and the paddles set in 
motion. When the skins are soft and thin, they are taken out 



MANUFACTURE OF GENUINE KANGAROO LEATHER. 311 

of the bate, washed in warm water and are then ready to 
be pickled or tanned according to the method of tanning that 
is followed. If it is more convenient to bate during the nig-ht, 
warm the bating liquor to 95 degrees Fahr., put the goods into 
it and run the paddles one hour before stopping for the night. 
The skins should' be thrown in as quickly as possible and the 
paddles kept running while this is being done. In the morning 
run the paddles one hour after warming the liquor to 85 de- 
grees Fahr., then take the skins out and* wash them in warm- 
water to further cleanse and neutralize them. 

Bating with Lactic Acid. — An excellent process of bating 
with a fermented bate is used in this manner: Prepare a paddle 
wheel with water at a temperature of 120 degrees Fahr., and 
put into it two pailfuls of dry bran and allow it to stand over 
night. The next morning bring the temperature up to 95 de- 
grees Fahr., and take one pound of lactic acid for every hun- 
dred pounds of skins and put a part of it into the bran liquor, 
then throw in the skins and add the rest of the acid slowly 
afterwards. Run the paddle wheel for three hours more or 
less, then take the skins out and wash them. For the second 
pack run the bate liquor down about twelve inches, make up 
the loss with fresh water, and bring up the temperature to 95 
degrees Fahr. ; do not use any more bran but take one pint of 
lactic acid for every hundred pounds of skins and proceed as 
directed for the first pack. Continue in this way for six days, 
then nm ofT all the bate liquor and make up a fresh liquor with 
water at 120 degrees Fahr., and two pailfuls of dry bran, allow- 
ing the same to stand twelve hours, 'and then proceeding in the 
manner described. Skins treated with this bate come out of. 
the liquor soft and clean and in good condition (after washing) 
to be pickled or tanned. 

Batijtg with Bran. — Some tanners prefer a bran drench to 
any other process of bating, A half barrel of bran is mixed 
with sufificient water to make a mush ; this is covered up and 
allowed to stand forty-eight hours to sour. Into a paddle vat 
holding sufficient water to cover the skins, the sour bran is 



312 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

emptied, and three pints of sulphuric acid and three pecks of 
common salt are added to the liquor, the latter is thoroughly 
stirred and warmed with steam to 90 degrees Fahr, From four 
hundred to four hundred and fifty kangaroo skins can be put 
into the bate and stirred about for four or five hours when they 
will be soft and clean. After this process is completed, they 
will be found to be free from undesirable matter and after a 
slight washing will be ready for the next process. Of these 
three bating processes that have been described, the tanner 
can take his choice and can rest assured that his skins will be 
bated in the best possible manner and will be put into just the 
right condition to be tanned. 

Pickling. — For nearly all processes of tanning it is advan- 
tageous to pickle the skins. Pickling makes the leather more 
uniform and more easily tanned. To start a new pickling liquor 
add forty pounds of salt for every hundred gallons of water in 
a paddle vat, and stir until dissolved. Then for every hundred 
pounds of skins to be pickled add to the salt water ten pounds 
of salt and one and a half pounds of sulphuric acid. Plunge 
the liquor thoroughly and put the skins in. Run the paddle 
two hours, then place the skins over horses for twelve hours to 
drain before tanning them. 

Chrome-tanned Kangaroo Leather. 

Two-Bath Pi'ocess. — Weigh the pickled skins and for every 
hundred pounds of them dissolve five pounds of salt in twelve 
gallons of water. To this solution add five pounds of bichro- 
mate of potash dissolved in three gallons of water and four 
pounds of muriatic acid, put this liquor and the skins into the 
drum and run the drum three hours more or less. At the end 
of this length of time the skins should be a deep yellow all 
through ; they should then be horsed up for twenty-four hours. 

The second bath consists of twelve gallons of water, eighteen 
pounds of hyposulphite of soda and six pounds of muriatic 
acid for each hundred pounds of stock. The soda is dissolved 
and mixed into the water; the solution is put into the drum 



MANUFACTURE OF GENUINE KANGAROO LEATHER. 313 

together with the skins, and the drum started. The acid should 
be mixed into two gallons of water ; as soon as the drum starts 
run the acid solution into it through a lead funnel attached to 
the gudgeon and run the drum from three to four hours or until 
the skins are blue through the thickest part of them and are 
fully tanned. Then take them out of the drum and place them 
smoothly over horses to drain for twenty-four hours ; next wash 
them in borax water, and then in clear water, until all acid and 
salt are removed and they are perfectly neutral to the taste. 
The next process is coloring which follows the mechanical 
operations of striking-out, or pressing and shaving. 

One-Bath Process. — i. For each hundred pounds of skins 
prepare a solution of one pound of Glauber's salt in eight gal- 
lons of water at 85 degrees Fahr. Throw this solution into the 
drum with the pickled skins and drum them for fifteen minutes. 
They should then be thrown up on each side of the drum, the 
plug pulled out and the Glauber's salt solution drained off; now 
replace the plug and throw into the drum ten pounds of com- 
mon salt and eight gallons of water for each hundred pounds 
of skins and run the drum five minutes. Concentrated chrome 
liquor is then poured into the drum, a gallon at a time, at inter- 
vals of thirty minutes, until three gallons for each hundred 
pounds of skins have been poured in, when the drum should 
be run three hours or longer. Now dissolve in as little water 
as possible three fourths of a pound of bicarbonate of soda for 
each hundred pounds of skins and pour the solution into the 
drum and run the latter forty minutes longer. The tanning 
should now be completed, but it is advisable to add water to 
the liquor in the drum and to let the skins remain in it over 
night, then to set them to press and drain for twenty-four hours. 
After this they are washed for twenty minutes in warm water 
containing two pounds of borax for each hundred pounds of 
them, and then in clean water for fifteen minutes. The leather 
is then ready to be struck out or pressed, shaved, colored, fat- 
liquored, oiled and dried for finisfiing. 

2. There are some other processes of one-bath tanning, the 



314 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

following being a good one. The skins are weighed and put 
into the drum together with ten pounds of salt and twelve 
gallons of water for every hundred pounds of them and drummed 
in the brine for ten minutes. The chrome material is dissolved 
in warm water until the solution has a strength of 23 degrees 
Baume. At the expiration of ten minutes one gallon for each 
hundred pounds of skins is poured into the drum ; at the end of 
a half hour another gallon is poured in and the drum is run 
another half hour, then two gallons of chrome solution are 
added and the drumming continued two or three hours. Let 
the skins remain in the liquor over night, then wash as directed 
for the preceding process. 

3. This process of tanning requires a preliminary drumming 
in a solution of sulphate of alumina and sal soda. For each 
hundred pounds of skins dissolve by boiling in five gallons of 
water three pounds of sulphate of alumina; and in another 
vessel dissolve by boiling in five gallons of water three pounds 
of sal soda. Pour the soda solution slowly and with constant 
stirring into the alumina solution ; set the mixture aside until 
it has cooled down to 85 degrees Fahr. Put the skins into the 
drum together with six pounds of salt and six gallons of water 
and drum them for five minutes; then pour into the drum the 
solution of alumina and soda, and drum thirty minutes. Chrome 
liquor is then added to the liquor in the drum, a gallon at a 
time, until four gallons have been used for every hundred 
pounds of skins. Continue drumming until the skins are 
tanned through ; then add bicarbonate of soda and let them lie 
in the liquor over night as directed for the first one-bath pro- 
cess ; then wash the leather, strike it out or press it, shave it, 
and it is then ready to be colored. 

4. Excellent leather is made by removing the acid pickle in 
a drench of sour bran and salt, then drumming the skins in a 
solution of sulphate of alumina and salt, following this with the 
chrome liquor, then washing and finishing them. After the 
pickle has been removed, put the skins into the drum together 
with three pounds of sulphate of alumina and six pounds of salt 



MANUFACTURE OF GENUINE KANGAROO LEATHER. 315 

dissolved in ten gallons of water for each hundred pounds of 
them, and drum them in this liquor thirty minutes, when they are 
ready for the chrome liquor. Three or four gallons of this are 
used per hundred weight of skins and the latter arc drummed 
until tanned, left in the liquor over night, drained for twenty- 
four hours, washed, shaved, colored and treated in the remain- 
ing operations in the usual way. The author has tanned 
kangaroo skins by this process with very good results as re- 
gards plumpness, fineness of grain and toughness. They were 
limed in arsenic limes and bated with manure, then pickled and 
the pickle removed before tanning. Pickling can be omitted, 
however, for this process and the labor and expense of pickling 
and depickling can then be saved. Chrome-tanned skins, after 
shaving, can be retanned with gambier or palmetto, and then 
colored and finished the same as pure chrome leather. Very 
light skins can be made a little thicker and heavier by being 
drummed in quebracho liquor after they have been shaved. 

Methods of Dyeing Kangaroo Skins. 

Dyeing the Skins Black. — Receipt No. i. — In this process 
logwood and bichromate of potash are used. For each hun- 
dred pounds of skins, dissolve by boiling in ten gallons of 
water : 

Logwood Crystals if^ pounds. 

Fustic Paste 4 ounces. 

Salts of Tartar 3 ounces. 

Add five gallons of cold water to the liquor and use it at 
125 degrees Fahr. Drum the skins in it for twenty minutes. 
While the drum is running, dissolve in a pailful of hot water: 

Bichromate of Potash i ounce. 

Pour this solution into the drum and run the drum ten min- 
utes. Then drain the liquor out of the drum and wash the 
skins in three changes of water. They are then ready to be 
fat-liquored. Borax can be used in place of salts of tartar to 
make the logwood liquor slightly alkaline, which is desirable. 
■The washing after coloring is important to remove the dye 



3l6 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

liquor so that the fat-liquor will go in. Coloring in this way 

can also be done after fat-liquoring if desirable. 

Receipt No. 2. — A good color can be obtained with logwood 

and titanium salts in the following manner: For every hundred 

pounds of skins, boil until dissolved in ten gallons of water: 

Logwood Crystals i j^ pounds. 

Fustic Paste 4 ounces. 

Borax 3 ounces. 

In another tub dissolve in ten gallons of hot water for every 
hundred pounds of skins: 

Titanium -Potassium Oxalate 5 ounces. 

Put the skins and half of the titanium solution into the drum 
and run the drum ten or fifteen minutes ; then pour the log- 
wood liquor in and run the drum fifteen minutes ; finally to 
develop the color, pour in the rest of the titanium solution and 
run the drum ten minutes longer. Wash the skins and finish 
them, but have one pound of titanium salt in the barrel of 
seasoning and no copperas. The logwood liquor should be 
increased to fifteen gallons by the addition of five gallons of 
cold water and used at a temperature of 125 degrees Fahr. 

Receipt No. j. — In this process logwood, copperas and blue- 
stone are used. Use the same quantities of logwood, fustic and 
alkali as given in the preceding receipts. Put the skins and 
five gallons of water into the drum, pour in the logwood liquor 
and start the drum. While the skins are running in the log- 
wood, dissolve by boiling in four gallons of water, for each 
hundred pounds of skms : 

Copperas 2 ounces. 

Bluestone 1^ ounce. 

At the expiration of thirty minutes, pour this solution into 
the drum and continue drumpiing for fifteen minutes. Then 
drain the liquor out of the drum and wash the skins in two or 
three changes of water; then press and fat-liquor them. 

Receipt No. ^. — Prepare logwood liquor as directed in Nos. 
1 and 2; and drum the skins in it twenty minutes; then pour 
into the drum a solution of blue nigrosine made by dissolving 
in hot water : 



MANUFACTURE OF GENUINE KANGAROO LEATHER. 317 
Blue Nigrosine 3 ounces. 

and run the drum for ten minutes. Then add copperas and 
bluestone or titanium solution as directed in Nos. 3 and 4. 
Drum the skins fifteen minutes, wash and fat-liquor. Fustic 
with logwood intensifies the black. Any one of these pro- 
cesses can be used with the assurance that the leather will have 
a good color. 

Fat-liquor Formulas. 

After the skins have been colored and washed, they should 
be either pressed or struck out to get rid of the surplus water 
so that they can be fat-liquored. The fat-liquor drum, empty 
and clean, is heated with live steam, the condensed steam or 
water drained out, and the skins are then thrown in and 
drummed a few minutes to warm them ; then the hot fat-liquor 
is poured into the drum and the skins drummed in it for forty 
minutes. All the oil and soap should be taken up by the 
leather, leaving nothing but water behind. Some tanners use 
a different method as follows : The skins and a quantity of hot 
water are put into the drum and run ten minutes. The drum 
is then stopped, the hot water drained off", and the fat-liquor put 
in; or the fat-liquor is poured in and, mingling with the hot 
water, accomplishes its purpose. The preliminary drumming 
in hot water warms the skins so that the fat-liquor can pene- 
trate more readily. Personally the author considers heating 
the drum with live steam the better method. When the leather 
has been run in the fat-liquor forty minutes, it should be taken 
out of the drum, placed over horses to drain for at least twelve 
hours, then set out, oiled on the grain, and hung up to dry. 

Receipt No. i. — A good fat-liquor for glazed kangaroo is 
made of the following ingredients : 

Fig or Olive Soap i pound. 

Neatsfoot or Cod Oil 2 pounds. 

Moellon Degras 2 pounds. 

Caustic Soda i ounce. 

Boil the soap in six gallons of water until it is dissolved \ 
then add the oil and boil fifteen minutes ; then add the moellon. 



3l8 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

degras and stir five minutes. The caustic soda dissolved in 
two quarts of water should be added last. Enough cold water 
should then be added to make twelve gallons of fat-liquor for 
from one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five pounds of 
leather. Apply to the leather at 125 degrees Fahr. 

Receipt No. 2. — For one hundred pounds of leather make a 
fat-liquor of: 

Soap y^ pound. 

Olive Oil 2 pounds. 

Treated Cod Oil 2 pounds. 

Salts of Tartar 3 ounces. 

Boil the soap in a few gallons of water ; add the oil and boil 
again for ten minutes ; then add the salts of tartar dissolved in 
a little hot water. It is advisable to add enough water to make 
twelve gallons of fat-liquor and to use it at 125 degrees Fahr. 
If this quantity of fat-liquor makes one hundred pounds of 
leather softer than is wanted, the quantity of leather can be in- 
creased twenty or more pounds, or less fat-liquor may be used. 

Receipt No. ^ — To make fifty gallons of fat-liquor use : 

Palermo Fig Soap 20 pounds. 

"Wyandotte Soda 5 pounds. 

Moellon Degras — ico pounds. 

Boil the soap in twenty gallons of water until it is dissolved, 
then add cold water to reduce the temperature to 140 degrees 
Fahr., next add the soda and degras and without boiling stir 
the mixture five minutes. Fill the barrel up with water so that 
there are fifty gallons of fat-liquor. For one hundred or more 
pounds of leather use two gallons of this fat-liquor together with 
six gallons of hot water. After the leather has been drummed 
in the fat-liquor thirty minutes, rinse it in warm water contain- 
ing some Wyandotte soda, let it drain twelve hours, then set it 
out, and hang it up to dry. 

Receipt No. 5. — This is a good fat-liquor for dull kangaroo 
leather. For one hundred pounds of skins use: 

Fig or Olive Soap i pound. 

Neatsfoot Od 4 pounds. 

Moellon Degras 2 pounds. 

Caustic Soda i ounce. 



MANUFACTURE OF GENUINE KANGAROO LEATHER. 319 

Boil the soap, next add the oil and boil again, and then stir 
in the degras and soda. There should be twelve gallons of fat- 
liquor, and it should be used at 125 degrees Fahr. 

Receipt No. 6. — This fat-liquor contains no oil or soap ; noth- 
ing but moellon degras and alkali : 

Moellon Degras 3 pounds. 

Salts of Tartar 4 ounces. 

Dissolve the salts of tartar in three gallons of hot water; then 
stir in the degras, stirring for several minutes. Add water to 
make twelve gallons, and use at 140 degrees Fahr. 

Oiling and Drying the Leather. — After the skins have drained 
at least twelve hours after fat-liquoring they should be struck 
out and oiled lightly upon the grain. For glazed finish use 
one part neatsfoot and three parts parafifine oils warmed and 
stirred together ; or one part olive and three parts parafifine 
oils. For dull finish use equal parts of neatsfoot and paraffine 
oils. After the oil has been applied to the grain, hang the 
skins to dry in a moderately warm room with good circulation. 
It is best for the leather to let it dry rather slowly. When dry, 
the skins are dampened and staked. 

Staking and Tacking. — The best way to dampen the dry 
skins is to put a dozen of them at a time into hot water, allow- 
ing them to remain about two minutes, then pack them into a 
box and cover the pile with a coat of wet sawdust about twelve 
inches deep. They should remain in this condition over night, 
then be staked and tacked on boards. When dry they are 
trimmed and seasoned. 

Finishing. — An excellent glazed finish is obtained by using 
the following dressing: 

Prepared Blood 15 pints. 

Water i pint. 

Milk I pint. 

Glycerine 2 tablespoonfuls. 

Orchil y^ pint. 

Nigrosine Solution \\^ pints. 

Ammonia i pint. 

Make the nigrosine liquid by dissolving eight ounces of 



320 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

black nigrosine in a gallon of water. Mix the ingredients by 
thorough stirring; then add enough strong logwood liquor to 
make nine gallons of finish. 

Before applying the finish, the leather should be rubbed with 
a lactic acid solution made by mixing one part acid and eight 
parts water, to clear the grain of grease. When this has dried, 
the finishing should be put on and well rubbed into the grain; 
the leather is then dried and glazed ; more finish applied to it, 
and again dried and glazed. 

A solution of nigrosine and wood alcohol also clears the 
grain of greasy matter, and deepens the color. When this is 
used, the lactic acid solution is not necessary. Dissolve an 
ounce of black nigrosine in a gallon of hot water and to this 
add a small quantity of wood alcohol. Give the leather a coat 
of this, then dry, apply the finish, dry again, and then glaze. 

The finishes described in the sections on goat, sheep and 
calf leathers are also suitable for kangaroo leather. 

After the first glazing, the leather is given another coat of 
finish, dried, staked and then glazed again. A light coat of hot 
finishing oil is the finishing touch. 

For dull finish give the leather a coat of seasoning, dry it, 
then apply another coat, dry again and iron with a hot iron, 
then stake the skins lightly, which will leave them feeling soft 
and full. The dull finishes described in the section on calf and 
goat leathers can be applied to kangaroo with equally satis- 
factory results. 

If colored kangaroo is wanted, follow the instructions given 
for calf and goat skins. 

Vegetable-tanned Kangaroo Skins. 

Quebracho-Tanned Kdttgaroo. — In the manufacture of vege- 
table-tanned kangaroo leather, quebracho extract is used, also a 
combination of quebracho and hemlock extracts, one of que- 
bracho and palmetto extracts, and either gambler or palmetto 
extract alone. 

When quebracho extract is used a convenient quantity of it 



MANUFACTURE OF GENUINE KANGAROO LEATHER. 32 1 

is boiled with water in a barrel to form a stock solution from 
which the tan liquor is made up and strengthened. The first 
liquor to which the skins are subjected is a weak one, about 
eight degrees barkometer. The pickled skins are suspended in 
this liquor, which should contain some salt, and as the tanning 
progresses the strength of the liquor is increased until at the 
last it is about twenty degrees. The time required for tanning 
varies according to the thickness of the skins and the strength 
of the liquor. From seven to fourteen days are usually re- 
quired. Salt should be used in quebracho liquor in which 
pickled stock is tanned to prevent the washing-out of the salt 
in the skins which would leave the acid to burn the fibers. 

Excellent results are accomplished by using a mixture of 
quebracho and hemlock extracts in the same manner that que- 
bracho is used by itself. A combination of seventy-five per 
cent, quebracho and twenty-five per cent, palmetto extracts 
makes a desirable tannage, the leather turning out soft, full and 
plump. 

When the tanning is completed, the leather should be washed 
in lukewarm water, pressed and fat-liquored. A suitable liquor 
is made of one and one-fourth pounds of soap and two pints of 
moellon degras for one hundred pounds of leather. The skins 
are run in this fat-liquor for thirty minutes, then rinsed in warm 
water, struck out and hung up to dry. The dry leather is then 
moistened with warm water, shaved, run in warm sumac liquor, 
struck out and dried again. The skins in a dry condition, are 
softened, and colored with logwood and iron or other liquor, 
dried, staked and finished. 

A mixture of quebracho, alum and salt makes soft, plump 
leather. If the skins have been pickled it is necessary to re- 
move the acid in a drench of sour bran and salt before tannfng 
them. To every hundred gallons of quebracho liquor of four 
degrees barkometer strength add, while the liquor is warm, 
a pound and a half of alum and four pounds of salt, and 
plunge until it is well mixed. At the end of thirty-six hours 
the skins are ready for the second bath. Heavy stock may re- 

2£ 



3 22 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

main in the first bath forty-eight hours. The second bath con- 
sists of quebracho Hquor of six degrees strength, gradually 
strengthened until the skins are tanned through. No alum and 
salt are used in the second bath. When taken from the liquor, 
the leather is rinsed in warm water, fat-liquored and dried, then 
moistened, shaved, colored and finished. 

When quebracho and hemlock extracts are combined, the 
liquor should be two-thirds quebracho and one-third hemlock. 
The tanning is begun in weak liquor, which is strengthened as 
the tanning proceeds, until the skins are tanned through. 
Quebracho-hemlock and quebracho-palmetto tanned skins 
work out into fine leather when they are fat-liquored and fin- 
ished in the following manner, which is a little different from 
the method previously described. 

Finishing Combination-Tanned Leather. — When the skins are 
fully tanned, take them from the liquor and either press them 
to remove surplus liquor or let them drain in a pile for forty- 
eight hours; Heat the drum with steam, and put in the leather 
together with one gallon of any good leather oil to each one 
hundred and fifty pounds of it. Run the drum thirty minutes. 
Then take the leather out of the drum and hang it up to dry; 
after drying, weigh it, wet it in warm water in a tub and leave 
it in piles for twenty-four hours to soften. It should now be 
shaved ; then put it into a drum together with just enough warm 
water to wet all parts alike ; drain off any water remaining in the 
drum and add from sixteen to twenty gallons of fat-liquor at i lo 
degrees Fahr. to each lOO pounds of dry weight leather. Some 
tannages need more fat-hquor than others. Sixteen gallons is 
sufficient for most leather. Run the drum until the fat liquor 
is well taken up, then hang the leather up to dry. To make 
the fat-liquor, fill a barrel half full of water and boil in it twenty- 
five pounds of fig soap ; then add fifty pounds of English sod 
oil and one and a half gallons of clarified leather oil, saponify 
thoroughly and add water to make fifty gallons of fat-liquor. 
The dry leather is then wet and colored. If blue flesh and 
black grain are wanted, it is drummed in an alkaline logwood 



MANUFACTURE OF GENUINE KANGAROO LEATHER. 323 

liquor, then grain-biacked on machine or by hand. If the 
leather is to be black clear through, the skins should be 
drummed in a solution of five ounces of titanium-potassium 
oxalate to one hundred pounds of dry leather, then in logwood 
liquor, after which a solution of five ounces more of the 
titanium salt is poured into the drum and drumming continued 
ten minutes ; the leather is then washed, set out, oiled and 
hung up to dry for the final finishing. 

Good leather is made by tanning kangaroo skins in a liquor 
made of gambler, alum, sulphate of soda and salt in the propor- 
tions of six pounds of gambier, two pounds of salt, one and 
one fourth pounds of alum, one pound of sulphate of soda and 
one-half ounce of picric acid for one dozen light skins. Boil 
the gambier separately; the other materials also separately 
and then mix the two solutions. The tanning liquor can be 
given to the skins in a drum, a gallon at a time, and they are 
drummed until tanned through. They should not be pickled, 
but tanned after bating and washing, and every trace of lime 
must be removed before tanning is begun. Suspending them 
in the liquor is a good way to tan them. 

After the leather is tanned, it should be allowed to drain for 
several hours or pressed and then treated with cod oil emulsi- 
fied by borax. The borax cuts the oil so that there will be no 
sticky grain. The leather is then dried, moistened and staked, 
colored and finished. 

Sometimes skins that have been tanned with gambier or with 
palmetto are retanned with alum, salt and soda, then fat- 
liquored and dried. Tanning is effected with gambier in a vat 
and retanning in a drum. This process produces dongola 
leather. 

Another form of dongola tannage consists of tanning first 
with gambier, then giving them a sort of kid tannage in a 
drum. One hundred medium skins, pressed from the tan, are 
given two pounds of alum, five pounds of salt, twelve pounds 
of flour, five dozen egg yolks, one-half pint olive oil and four 
gallons of water. The alum and salt are dissolved in two gal- 



324 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Ions of water, then the flour is carefully stirred in. The egg 
yolks, previously mixed with warm water, are then added and 
the mixture is stirred and mixed very thoroughly. The skins 
are run in a drum until they have absorbed the mixture ; then 
they are rinsed off, struck out and dried. Pickled skins should 
be neutralized before they are tanned in this process. A com- 
bination of gambier, flour, egg yolk and neatsfoot oil, thor- 
oughly mixed and made into a sort of paste makes excellent 
kangaroo leather. No subsequent fat-liquoring is necessary^ 
the skins being dried, wet back and shaved, colored and fin- 
ished. One hundred medium skins, free from acid, require 
fifty pounds of gambier, five pounds of salt, two pounds of 
alum, twelve pounds of flour, five dozen egg yolks, one pint of 
oil and six gallons of water. The gambier is boiled and 
cooled, then the other articles are added as described above. 
When the skins are dry, they are wet shaved and colored 
yellow or blue or black upon the flesh, and black upon the 
grain, then dried again, staked and finished. Palmetto extract 
may be used in place of gambier. Skins tanned with palmetto 
may be retanned with alum, salt, egg yolk and flour, dried, wet, 
shaved, colored and finished. 

Chrome-tanned skins, after washing and shaving, can be re- 
tanned with palmetto and then finished the same as pure 
chrome leather. 

Yellow Flesh. — If yellow back is wanted on quebracho or 
combination-tanned leather, the skins, dried after fat-liquoring, 
are wet in a tub of warm water and placed in a pile to soften. 
Then, for every one hundred small and medium skins, a half 
pailful of sumac is scalded with hot water for two hours in a 
closed vessel. When ready for use, the sumac, four pailfuls 
of water, one gallon of lactracene and the skins are put into a 
drum, and drummed for twenty-five minutes. The temperature 
of the sumac liquor and water should be no degrees Fahr. 
After the skins have been drummed in the sumac-lactracene 
liquor for twenty-five minutes, the yellow dye is added and the 
leather run in it ten minutes. Dissolve one pound of Yellow S 



MANUFACTURE OF GENUINE KANGAROO LEATHER. 325 

in one-half barrel full of water and use three or four pails of 
the solution for each hundred pounds of leather weighed before 
softening. After the leather is colored yellow, color the grain 
with logwood and striker on the table or machine, then set the 
leather out, oil the grain with sperm oil, dry and finish in dull 
or glazed as may be desired. 

Blue or Black Flesh. — Prepare the skins by softening with 
water, then run them in sumac, then in logwood and striker, 
which colors both flesh and grain. The exact treatment de- 
pends upon the tannage and condition of the leather. A good 
process is carried out in the following manner : Drum the soft- 
ened leather in sumac; then for every hundred pounds of it 
weighed dry, run for ten minutes in a solution of five ounces of 
titanium-potassium oxalate ; next pour the logwood-fustic 
liquor, slightly alkaline, into the drum and run the leather in it 
twenty minutes ; then pour in another warm solution of five 
ounces of titanium-salts; run the drum ten minutes, then 
drain the liquor out, and wash the leather, set it out, oil the 
grain and hang up to dry. Coloring can also be done with 
logwood and copperas or other striker. Drumming the leather 
first in titanium salts, then in logwood and then again in titan- 
ium solution colors it black through flesh and grain. 

A Patented Method of Finishing Kangaroo Leather. — An un- 
stufifed kangaroo skin, tanned by a gambier, quebracho or 
other vegetable tanning process is fat-liquored with a suitable 
fat-liquor and then dried. The inner or flesh side is then 
colored blue-back by any suitable dye, and the grain is dyed 
black with logwood or other coloring material. The skin is 
then slicked out smooth and hung up and dried ; then staked 
and trimmed in the ordinary way. It is then seasoned by the 
use of bluestone, iron, logwood, ammonia, blood and nigrosine, 
the proportions being as follows: Bluestone, one-half pint; 
iron, one-eighth ounce; logwood, one-half pint; blood, one 
pint; nigrosine, one-half pint. The seasoned skin is dried in 
a warm room, then glazed and staked, when it is given another 
coat of seasoning, dried and glazed again, and then staked in 



326 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

the same manner as before. It is then again seasoned, dried 
and glazed, and is now ready for the market. The finished 
skin has a blue-black flesh, a jet black grain and a bright finish 
resembling glazed kid; and at the same time it is very soft and 
durable. This process of finishing leather was patented in 
1899 by Christian E. and Henry A. Lappe, of Pittsburg, Pa. 



SECTION EIGHT. 
Methods of Bleaching Leather. 

Bleaching Sole Leather. — There can be no doubt of the fact 
that as much progress has been made by the tanners in bleach- 
ing as in any other department of leather manufacture. 

Large concerns such as the J. B. Ford Company, Wyandotte, 
Mich., who manufacture Wyandotte Tanners Alkali and Wyan- 
dotte Tanners Soda have devoted much time and money to the 
development of proper bleaching methods, and their chemists 
and experts have proven formulas based upon the laws of cause 
and effect, which obviate the necessity of obtaining at the 
named cost in the school of experience the knowledge of the 
finer parts of the work, and which can be obtained from them 
at no cost to the user of their materials. 

When once the laws governing the results of bleaching with 
given material are understood, the mystery with which it is 
frequently attempted to surround the "secrets" of the bleach- 
ing process are cleared, and it will be seen that the work is 
based upon common sense laws. A transgression of these laws 
will produce a result not' included in the calculations, such as 
dark-colored grain or cracky grain. Usually the material used 
for bleaching is blamed for unsatisfactory bleach results when 
in reality the application of the material is faulty. 

Some alkalies extract more weight than others. This state- 
ment will perhaps be questioned, but the J. B. Ford Company 
has on record data which proves this contention beyond doubt. 

Undoubtedly the greatest consumption of bleaching material 
is by the sole leather tanners, and the accomplishments in that 
line are of great interest. With the coming into general use of 
tanning extracts the necessity of bleaching grew until to-day 
many of the Texas oak leather tanners bleach their "bloom" 

(327) 



328 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

oak product, and this general need brought out not only Wyan- 
dotte Tanners Alkali, which is by far the most efficient and 
most economical bleaching material made, but also the " dip 
machine" for bleaching leather. 

This machine is in line with the progress made in bleach- 
ing. The apparatus consists usually of five vats in a row over 
which is built a hoist so that the leather hung into frames hold- 
ing ten to twelve sides can be lowered simultaneously into the 
vats and raised again. The vats are usually built to hold one 
thousand -gallons of water, and the frames constructed so that 
each side has allotted a four and one-half inches space. 

The five vats contain usually: Vat No. i, water; vat No. 2, 
alkali; vat No. 3, water; vat No. 4, sulphuric acid ; vat No. 5, 
water. All should be heated to 125 degrees Fahr. except vat 
No. I which should be heated to 130 degrees Fahr. We 
advocate heating vat No. i to 130 degrees Fahr. as the cold 
leather upon being immersed usually lowers the tem.perature 
of the water from five to eight degrees. These tempera- 
tures should be maintained uniformly. It is essential that the 
temperature of the vat following the acid vat should be equally 
as warm as the latter. Some tanners use here a cold water 
bath instead of the temperature of the acid bath, preferring to 
have the leather come out stifif and hard ; but this is wrong, as 
the leather coming from the acid bath carries with it quite a 
per cent, of free sulphuric acid which is sealed into it when it 
is placed into cold water, which contracts the fibers and re- 
tains the acid to the detriment of the quality of the leather. 

The amount of alkali required for bleaching, varies accord- 
ing to the condition of the leather and color desired. For oak 
leather twenty-five to forty pounds of alkali to start with will 
prove sufficient, and for union tannages fifty to ninety pounds. 
For hemlock and combination tannages the quantity required 
will vary from seventy to one hundred and twenty pounds to 
start with according to the tannage. 

The extracting, or stuffing leather with extract, must also be 
reckoned with and seriously, as the extract stufifed in by milling 



METHODS OF BLEACHING LEATHER. 329 

consists of uncombined tannins and is more easily extracted than 
combined tannins. Therefore it would seem necessary that the 
tannin material used — the properties of the various combina- 
tions of tanning materials employed and the general condition 
of the leather should be taken into consideration, and then the 
amount of alkali required to meet these conditions be de- 
termined. 

An alkali of given composition and strength is uniform 
and invariable in its action, and when varying results are ob- 
tained they are usually due to a failure to maintain in the 
tanning process uniform conditions. For instance, should a 
sole leather tanner increase the amount of chestnut wood ex- 
tract in his combination of tanning material used, he is chang- 
ing the conditions of the leather, and he must provide for this 
changed condition by changing his bleaching quantities. 

Where conditions are maintained uniformly an alkali of given 
composition will invariably produce uniform results. The 
function of an alkali in bleaching is to liberate from combina- 
tion a certain amount of tannin. This amount is governed 
wholly by the strength of the alkali solution used and the 
length of time the leather is immersed in it. 

The amount of tannin thus released is later on cleared out 
by the action of the sulphuric acid. It is essential that the 
strength of the alkali and acid solutions should be strengthened 
during the day, preferably after each dip. 

A portion of the alkali in the alkali vat enters into actual 
combination with certain tans and non-tans, principally the 
latter, that have been extracted from the leather, and such 
alkali is useless for further bleaching and must be replaced. 
Also, the alkali that has been absorbed by the sides and that 
which hangs on the surface and fails to drip ofT is lost and must 
be replaced. 

The amount required to keep the bleach strength at its full 
efficiency may be calculated on the basis of ten per cent, of the 
amount used to start with, for every fifty sides bleached. Then, 
where eighty pounds of alkali are used to make up the solution 



330 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

at the start, eight pounds should be used to strengthen for 
every fifty sides bleached. This amount may be divided into 
proportionate quantities and added to the solution after each 
dip, or the amount may be added to the solution after every 
four dips, that is, where the frames hold twelve to thirteen 
sides. But the former plan is preferable as it is most con- 
ducive to uniform results. The strengthening of the acid solu- 
tion should be done on the same basis. 

The amount of acid required depends upon the amount of 
tannin liberated by the alkali. On oak leather we find it takes 
two pounds of sixty-six degrees sulphuric acid to start the solu- 
tion for every pound of Wyandotte Tanner's Alkali. On union 
and hemlock tannages five pounds of acid to start for every 
three pounds of Wyandotte Tanner's Alkali will sufKice. 

After the bleaching is successfully accomplished, desirable 
colored leather is not assured unless intelligent care is given 
the leather in drying. Poor color is often the result of careless 
handling in the dry lofts. 

Bleaching Bag, Strap and Collar Leather. 

Much depends upon the condition of the leather throughout 
the tanning process in order to obtain a good color. The fol- 
lowing single-bleach formula is giving great satisfaction : When 
the leather comes from the shaving machine run it, say thirty 
sides, in a drum with warm water until it is thoroughly wet, and 
then run the water off. Next run the sides in a solution of 
twelve pounds of common salt and fifteen gallons of warm 
water for ten minutes and discharge the water and salt, after 
which run them in a solution of three pounds of Wyandotte 
Tanner's Soda and fifteen gallons of water for fifteen minutes 
longer. Run off this solution and give the sides a five-min- 
ute rinse in clean water so as to remove from them all traces 
of the soda ; then rinse for eight minutes in twelve gallons of 
water at 125 degrees Fahr., to which have been added one and 
one-half quarts of sulphuric acid. Drain the acid solution off 
and rinse the leather in clean water. Next run for one hour in 



METHODS OF BLEACHING LEATHER. 33 1 

a solution of thirty-five gallons of palmetto or quebracho ex- 
tract 16 degrees barkometer strength, and eight pounds of 
common salt. If a better color is desired, use sumac after 
retanning. 

A still better color may be obtained by adding one-half pint 
of dissolved tin crystals to the sumac solution. 

Double Bleach. — After the leather is split and shaved, retan 
it with palmetto or quebracho extract of 16 degrees barkometer 
strength, either in paddle wheel or drum. When retanned put 
thirty sides in a drum of warm water and drum for ten minutes. 
Then run the water ofif, and make a solution of twelve pounds 
of common salt and fifteen gallons of water, and run the sides 
in this solution for ten minutes more. Then wash ofif the 
leather with warm water. 

Next prepare a dip bleach, using four barrels. In the first 
barrel use five pounds of Wyandotte Tanner's Soda and thirty- 
five gallons of water of about 125 degrees Fahr. In the second 
barrel use warm water of 125 degrees Fahr. This is for the 
purpose of washing the soda from the leather. In the third 
barrel use thirty-five gallons of water with sufificient sulphuric 
acid to bring the acid strength up to from 25 degrees to 28 
degrees Baume. In the fourth barrel use thirty-five gallons of 
water at about 80 degrees Fahr. The last barrel should be fitted 
with intake and overflow pipes so that the water may run freely 
through it, as the acid bath is very strong. After every fifteen 
sides bleached, strengthen the first barrel with one-half pound 
of Wyandotte Tanner's Soda, and the third barrel with one-half 
cupful of sulphuric acid. 

When fifty or sixty sides have been bleached the solution in 
barrel No. i may be used in the drum and a new solution made 
for this barrel the same as in the beginning. 

Rinse Liquor. — The soda liquor that was used in the first 
barrel may be employed in the drum as follows : After the salt 
has been washed from the sides put thirty of them in a drum 
and run for twenty minutes in ten gallons of this soda liquor to 
which have been added fifteen gallons of warm water. Then 



332 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

wash well with warm water, after which use the dip bleach as 
given above, working the sides up and down three or four 
minutes in each barrel. 

Lighter Color.~~\i a still lighter color is desired the sides 
may be treated with sumac in a drum or paddle wheel. Pre- 
pare the sumac as follows : In one-half barrelful of water dis- 
solve six gallons of ground sumac, and steam for fifteen or twenty 
minutes. Turn ofT the steam and allow the sumac to cool. 
Dissolve a teacupful of tin crystals in two gallons of hot water 
and add one cupful of muriatic acid. When the sumac liquor 
has cooled, add to it the solution of tin crystals and muriatic 
acid. Run the sides in a drum in this solution for one hour. 
If a paddle wheel is used instead of a drum the process should 
be continued for a longer time. The leather should be kept in 
motion while in the sumac solution whether it be in the drum 
or paddle wheel. After the sumac process is completed the 
leather should be rinsed well with lukewarm water. Then set 
it on the flesh side. When dry enough to reset, put a thick 
coat of moellon degras on the table, reset the leather, and give 
it a coat of neatsfoot oil on the grain side. Tack it on frames 
and when dry finish it. 

Bleaching with Sumac, Borax and Sulphuric Acid. 

In the coloring and finishing of skins that have acquired a dark 
color from the tannage, it is advantageous to retan them with 
sumac, which not only puts the leather in good condition to be 
colored, but also makes it softer and more desirable in every 
way, especially when the skins are hard and firm from the 
tannage. 

One way to do the work is to take the dry skins, moisten 
them by dipping them into warm water and placing them in 
piles for a number of hours to become moist and soft. They 
are then placed in a drum and washed in warm water contain- 
ing borax for from fifteen to thirty minutes, when the water is 
run out and a fresh supply run in, and the skins washed again. 
Sometimes one washing is sufficient. 



METHODS OF BLEACHING LEATHER. 333 

The leather is then treated with a weak acid Hquor made up 
of water and sulphuric acid for twenty minutes, after which it is 
thoroughly washed in two or three changes of water. It is 
next treated with sumac, also in a drum, from one to two 
pounds of sumac being used for each dozen skins. 

The temperature of the sumac bath should be about 100 de- 
grees Fahr., and the skins should be drummed in it until they 
have absorbed all the tannin, when they are rinsed off and set 
out. They are now ready for coloring, or they may be dried 
out and colored later. For medium shades the above process 
is satisfactory, but for very light shades sugar of lead and sul- 
phuric acid are often used. 

Bleaching with Sugar of Lead and Sulphuric Acid. 

These articles make the skins nearly white, but their use has 
unpleasant features. None of the coloring matter is removed 
from the leather, the light color being the result of the lead sul- 
phate deposited on the grain. It is generally best to retan 
the skins in sumac before bleaching them. 

To properly prepare skins for this process, they should be 
taken in the dry condition and thoroughly softened with warm 
soft water; they should then be milled in a drum in warm 
water containing borax until all particles of dirt, dust and free 
tannin are removed. The next process is retanning with 
sumac, which is also done in a drum. 

The quantity of sumac required by a lot of leather is deter- 
mined by the size, thickness and condition of the skins, and 
ranges from one to two pounds for each dozen. The sumac 
liquor should be at a temperature of 100 degrees Fahr., and the 
skins should be drummed in it until they have absorbed all the 
tannin, after which they are bleached. 

The bleaching may be done either in a drum or a vat by 
running the skins in a sugar of lead solution of about two and 
one-half per cent., for thirty minutes, then transferring them to 
a bath of sulphuric acid of about three per cent., and leaving- 
them therein until they become white. The operations may be 



334 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

repeated as many times as may be considered necessary to get 
the skins bleached. It is very important that all traces of acid 
be removed from them before any dye is applied. Glauber's 
salt may be used in place of acid. 

Many of the bleaching processes have undesirable effects 
upon the leather, making it harsh and brittle. As little bleach- 
ing as possible should be done. It is better to tan in clean 
liquor that makes leather of light and uniform color, such as 
liquors made from quermos and palmetto extracts, than to use 
a dark tannage and to depend upon a bleaching process to 
improve the color. Light leather intended for colors is im- 
proved by being run in an alum and salt solution immediately 
after the tanning is completed.- This serves to lighten up the 
color by clearing the grain as well as strengthening it. 

Nearly all classes of leather are improved by treatment with 
sumac before applying any dye. Sumac combined with lac- 
tracine makes an excellent mordant. 

Clouds and streaks ma)^ be removed by drumming in oxalic 
acid solution just before coloring, the skins being afterward 
washed to get rid of the acid. 

A greasy grain is made clear and open by the use of a weak 
lactic acid solution in which the leather is drummed previous 
to dyeing, then washed and colored. All classes of skins, but 
especially greasy ones, are improved by treatment with lactic 
acid. 

Bleaching with Gold Dust Washing Powder and Acid. 

Hides and skins for bags and case purposes, as well as for 
any other colored leather, may be bleached with Gold Dust 
Washing Powder and sulphuric acid in the following manner: 
After they are tanned or retanned and drained, put the hides or 
skins together into a drum with a solution of the powder made 
by dissolving one and a half pounds of it in fifty gallons of warm 
water. This is sufificient for fifty sides or one hundred skins. 
Drum the leather in the solution for twenty minutes ; then 
wash it ofT in clean cold water for ten or fifteen minutes. Then 



METHODS OF BLEACHING LEATHER. 335 

add one pint of sulphuric acid and eight pounds of salt to fifty 
gallons of cold water and run the leather in this liquor for 
fifteen minutes, after which wash it for fifteen minutes in cold 
water. It is then ready to be fat- liquored. If the soap in the 
fat-liquor darkens the leather, drain the drum and run it in fifty 
gallons of cold water into which one quart of lactic acid has 
been stirred. It is next set out with a rubber slicker and hung 
up to dry, and then finished according to the kind of leather 
that is wanted. The heavy loading of leather with extracts 
makes some process of bleaching necessary. This process 
consists of removing the surface tannin with alkali and then 
brightening it with sulphuric acid. After bleaching, it is 
necessary to wash out the acid so that it will not injure the 
color nor the fibers of the leather. 

Bleaching is done most expeditiously in a drum as more can 
be accomplished in it in thirty minutes than in a vat in an hour. 

Bleaching with Hydrosulphites. 

Hydrosulphite compounds are used for bleaching leather in 
the following manner: Dissolve one pound of hydrosulphite in 
fifty gallons of water or weak tan liquor in a suitable vat, and 
stir until well mixed. As soon as the bath is prepared the 
skins should be suspended in it for about one hour. Then they 
are removed therefrom, rinsed and dried. The hydrosulphite 
solution should always be prepared immediately before it is 
used. 

Hydrosulphite may be bought ready for use, or may be pre- 
pared as follows : Ten parts of zinc dust are stirred up with fifty 
parts of water, in which a little ice has been dissolved. One 
hundred parts of sodium bisulphite are then added slowly, and 
with constant stirring, to the solution of zinc dust. The tem- 
perature of the mixture while it is being prepared should not 
rise above 50 degrees Fahr. After it has been stirred for 
several minutes the solution should be allowed to settle. The 
clear solution is then diluted and used. 



336 practical tanning. 

Bleaching with Bisulphite of Soda. 

Naturally dark-colored leather can be improved in color by 
bleaching with bisulphite of soda and hydrochloric acid. The 
bath is prepared by adding six pounds of liquid bisulphite of 
soda or potash to twenty gallons of water. To this solution 
add slowl)^ from one to two pounds of commercial hydrochloric 
acid, previously diluted by being mixed with an equal volume 
of water. 

Bring the skins into the bath, prepared as directed, and stir 
them about until they are bleached throughout. A little more 
acid may be added to the bath if the skins seem to require it. 
The process is conveniently carried out in a vat, paddle or 
drum. Bisulphite of soda in liquid form contains from sixteen 
to eighteen per cent, of sulphur dioxide, hence its employment 
as described. The addition of the hydrochloric acid to the 
solution liberates the whole of the sulphur dioxide gas. 

Bleaching with Sodium Peroxide. 

To bleach with sodium peroxide, add two pounds of concen- 
trated sulphuric acid to twenty gallons of water in a suitable 
tub ; then add slowly, and with constant stirring, sprinkling it 
into the solution, sodium peroxide, until the acid is neutralized^ 
which may be ascertained by testing with a piece of red litmus 
paper. 

Use the bath as soon as prepared, and immerse the skins to 
be bleached in it for several hours. 

Bleaching with Permanganate of Potash. 
Permanganate of potash used in conjunction with sulphurous 
acid provides an efficient bleach for vegetable tanned leather. 
The process consists of two baths. The first bath is a solution 
of permanganate of potash, made by dissolving from four to six 
ounces of the salt in one hundred gallons of water. The leather 
is immersed, preferably by suspension, in this solution for 
thirty minutes ; it is then transferred to a solution of sulphur- 
ous acid. This is prepared with sulphur dioxide gas, which 



METHODS OF BLEACHING LEATHER. 337 

can be purchased in liquid form in a copper container. The 
sulphurous acid bath is made by connecting the cylinder or 
copper container to the vessel containing the water for the bath 
and charging the water with the sulphur dioxide gas. The 
skins are left in this bath until they have assumed the requisite 
light shade. The effectiveness of this process is due to the 
strong oxidising action exerted on the leather by the perman- 
ganate of potash. A great deal of care must be exercised in 
using this bleach, as there is danger of injuring the leather. 

Leather can also be bleached in the sulphurous acid bath, 
prepared in the manner that has been described. 

Bleaching, Stuffing and Finishing Russet Skirting 

Leather. 

Take some forty sides, twelve to eighteen pounds stock, 
right from the liquor and have them skived and leveled. Then 
put them into the sumac vat and leave them for two hours to 
fill up and color. The vat should measure five by nine feet 
and should be filled within one foot of the top. Put in one 
bag of dry sumac. Sicily sumac should be used as it produces 
the best results. 

Heat the liquor to 120 to 130 degrees Fahr. Instead of the 
slow process of using a vat, the sides can be bleached in less 
time in a drum. Put three pailfuls of dry sumac into one-half 
barrel of water, heated to 140 degrees Fahr., then put this into 
the drum together with the leather and set the drum going. 
A short time will be all that is required. 

Whether put in a vat or drum, the sides should be taken out 
in due time and placed over night to drain, or the moisture 
can be forced out by pressure, and they are then ready for 
bleaching. This can be done in a drum as it is highly import- 
ant to get a good, light-colored base which will suffice for 
either russet or colored stock. 

Beside the drum, put a barrel holding fifty allons, and into 
this drop eight pailfuls of dry Sicily sumac and fill the barrel half 
full of water. Heat for half an hour at 160 degrees Fahr., and 
22 



338 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

then add four pounds of muriate of tin, which should first be 
dissolved in a pail of boiling water. Fill up the barrel with 
water and heat the liquor to 125 degrees Fahr. Throw the 
forty sides into the drum and start it going, and through the 
open door throw in a pailful of the sumac liquor at a time 
until there is enough to thoroughly soak the leather. Drum 
one hour, then pull the plugs and let the liquor run out. 

Next put twenty-two ounces of sulphuric acid into a half 
barrel of water and re-bleach the leather in it by throwing this 
solution into the drum and running for five minutes. This 
washing takes out all the rust, emery and bark stains. Then 
rinse the leather by pouring cold water into the drum and wash 
ior ten minutes. This completes the bleaching. The leather 
is then dried, soaked in cold water and packed down over night 
to be ready to be prepared for stuffing the next morning. 

To stufT the leather, the following process is recommended : 
For forty sides averaging sixteen pounds to the side, use forty 
pounds of wax, three pounds of tallow and twenty-five pounds 
of cod oil. After the leather is stuffed, set it out by hand and 
give the grain a coat of hot neatsfoot or sod oil. When dry, turn 
and reset it on the table by brushing it on the grain side with 
hot water. Take it over to the stoning jack and stone all over, 
giving particular attention to the rough heads and grainy 
places. After the stoning, take the leather back and reset on 
flesh and grain, then hang it up for final drying. It will then 
be in good condition to be stained any shade of color. 

For russet alone, the leather, after being dried, should be 
sized on the flesh side with Irish moss solution, and rolled 
while damp. When dry, size the grain with heavy flaxseed 
water (one pailful), to which should be added four ounces of 
gelatine. Roll while damp, and either glaze or dry finish it. 

Bleaching with Borax and Lactic Acid. 

Combination-tanned stock that is to be colored for Russia 
and other colored leather is bleached and cleared by the use 
of borax and lactic acid. Commercial lactic acid may be used 



METHODS OF BLEACHING LEATHER. 359 

or bran may be soured, and the acid obtained in that way. 
Put one bushel of rye bran into a barrel filled with water, and 
let it stand until it is fermented and sour; it is then ready for 
use. One hundred pounds of dry leather that have been pre- 
viously fat-liquored require about three pounds of borax and 
two pailfuls of the sour bran liquor. The leather should be 
moistened and softened by dipping it into hot water and leav- 
ing it in piles until it is soft; then it should be put into a drum 
together with six or seven pails of water at 90 degrees Fahr 
Put the water and the borax solution into the drum together 
with the leather and drum ten minutes. Then the bran liquor 
should be thrown in and the drumming continued for fifteen 
minutes. When this has been done, wash the leather thor- 
oughly and, as a bottom for the color, give it some wood dye, 
such as fustic, peachwood, hypermic, etc. After coloring use 
alum to set the color. This is a safe and efficient process, as it 
has no bad effects upon the leather. The borax cleanses and 
saponifies the fat or grease that may be in the grain, and the 
lactic acid clears the grain and opens it so that the coloring 
material can readily penetrate and produce deep and uniform 
coloring. 

When commercial lactic acid is used, two gallons are dis- 
solved in fifty gallons of warm water, and the solution is poured 
into the drum after the leather has been run in the borax bath. 

Clearing Leather with Alum and Salt. 

Leather that is to be colored some fancy shade is benefited 
by being cleared in a drum with a solution of alum and salt. 
This process is especially good for Russia leather. The leather 
is taken in dry condition and softened with warm water. It is 
then put into the drum together with six pailfuls of warm water 
and two quarts of alum and four quarts of salt for one hundred 
pounds of dry leather. The drum is run fifteen minutes; the 
leather is then washed for ten minutes and given the first fat- 
liquor, preferably acid fat-liquor or sulphonated oil, when it is 
again dried, colored and fat-liquored. The alum and salt should 



340 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

be dissolved in warm water before being put into the drum. 
They improve the color and texture of the leather by cleansing 
and clearing the grain. When colored, the dye strikes through 
the leather and becomes permanent. This process is used more 
upon combination tanned Russia leather and leather for fancy 
colors than upon bark-tanned leather, as it is so simple and 
harmless. More alum and salt than the quantities mentioned 
may be used with perfect safety. The main fat-liquoring 
should be done after the leather has been dyed and dried so 
that the coloring will be well set. 

Bleaching with Oxalic Acid. 

Oxalic acid is an efhcient bleach for russet and colored 
leather. To make a barrel of bleaching liquor dissolve by 
boiling in three gallons of v^^ater one pailful of oxalic acid, and 
in three gallons of water in another vessel dissolve two pailfuls 
of salt. Put the salt solution into a barrel containing ten gal- 
lons of water and then add the oxalic acid solution and fill 
the barrel up with water to make fifty or more gallons of liquor. 
Leather is treated with this liquor after it is tanned or split and 
retanned. Fifty sides or ninety to one hundred skins should 
be given two pailfuls of oxalic acid and salt solution and seven 
pailfuls of water and be drummed in the liquor for fifteen min- 
utes. If the leather is not clear enough on the grain for rus- 
set leather, a little more oxalic acid solution should be used. 
Tannages vary so much that more or less liquor has to be 
employed to meet the requirements. Some tannages need less 
bleaching than others. 

After the leather has been bleached it should be washed in 
warm water until all traces of acid are removed. It is advisable 
then to scour it on the flesh side, press it, and hang it up to 
dry. The subsequent processes are fat-liquoring and coloring 
according to the kind of leather that is being made. Good 
russet leather is made by stuflfing and drying the sides or skins, 
then bufifing the grain and coloring with suitable dye, such as 
cake nankeen. The less color used the lighter the shade. Two 



METHODS OF BLEACHING LEATHER. 34 1 

coats of color are applied with a soft brush, the leather is wiped 
off with a sponge and hung up to dry, and then finished as may 
be desired. 

Oxalic acid and tin crystals make an effective bleach for 
bark-tanned leather. About eleven ounces of the acid and five 
and one-half ounces of the tin crystals will bleach one hundred 
pounds of dry leather. The acid may be used alone, but it 
produces the best results when combined with tin crystals. 
The leather should have been fat liquored and dried; then 
dampened and put into the drum together with six pailfuls of 
warm water and the acid and tin crystals dissolved in a pailful 
of hot water, and drummed twenty minutes. Then it should be 
very thoroughly washed and given some wood dyestuff as a 
bottom for the color, and some set after coloring. This pro- 
cess makes a very clear grain on which beautiful shades can be 
obtained, but the leather is made somewhat harsh and the 
color does not penetrate very deeply ; it is more desirable for 
bark-tanned than for combination-tanned leathers. 

Bleaching Chrome Leather. 
Chrome leather is bleached by running it in a hot borax 
solution for a quarter of an hour and then in sulphuric acid 
solution for the same length of time ; it is then washed in water 
and fat-liquored. The leather is made white by this treat- 
ment. Milling it in flour and water before fat-liquoring also 
bleaches it. 

Bleaching with Tanning Material, Alkali and Acid. 
A process of bleaching with tanning material and alkali and 
sulphuric acid is carried out in the following manner: A bleach- 
ing liquor is prepared by making an aqueous solution of tan- 
ning material in any well-known manner, the strength of the 
solution depending upon the character of the leather and the 
tannery practice. In this process the bleaching solution should 
preferably be of the same or of greater density than the tanning 
liquor to which the leather was last subjected in the preceding 
tanning process. 



342 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

A certain amount of alkali, or of a combination of alkaline 
ingredients, is added to the solution of tanning material. The 
quantity added should not only be sufificient to clarify the 
solution or dissolve the undissolved constituents naturally 
present in the tanning material, but there should be such an 
excess of it as to insure the bleaching effect of the dye, that is,^ 
the color which it is desired to impart to the leather, and 
according to the nature of the tanning material used. For 
securing leather of light colors the proportion of alkali must be 
greater than when dark colored leathers are desired, and if the 
bleaching liquor is formed of the solution obtained from a bark, 
the proportion of alkali should be less than if it is made from 
other materials such as quebracho extract, etc. The mixture 
thus obtained is heated, preferably from ioo° to 140° Fahr., 
and during the treatment maintained as nearly as possible at a 
uniform temperature, and also at a uniform strength or density 
by the addition, at intervals, of such quantities of tanning 
material and alkali as are required for this purpose. 

The leather is immersed in the bleaching liquor, and is main- 
tained therein for a short period of time, say from one to ten 
minutes or more, according to the character of the leather and 
the effect desired, the immersing being continued for a greater 
length of time to secure a denser product. By the term alkali 
is understood an alkali, alkaline salt, or combination of alkaline 
ingredients, as for instance, sodium carbonate or borax, or 
combinations thereof. 

After the bleaching in the alkaline bath, the leather is trans- 
ferred to an acid bath. This acid bath consists of a weak 
aqueous solution of any suitable material or of an organic acid 
such as sulphuric, hydrochloric or oxalic acid, or a combina- 
tion thereof, the solution varying in strength according to the 
character of the leather and the density of the bleaching alka- 
line liquor previously used. It should, however, be maintained 
as nearly as possible at a uniform strength during the treat- 
ment of the mass of leather to secure uniform results. The 
acid bath, as before stated, is preferably maintained at as 



METHODS OF BLEACHING LEATHER. 343 

nearly a uniform temperature as possible, from 100° to 140° 
Fahr., and the leather is immersed therein and allowed to re- 
main 3 sufficient length of time to acquire the color and proper- 
ties desired, a lighter color and heavier leather being obtained 
the longer immersion is continued. After the acid treatment 
the leather is removed, drained, and washed with water to re- 
move the acid. If it is desired to modify the color after the 
acid treatment, the leather may be immersed in a solution of 
tanning material, either with or without the addition of alkali, 
and be allowed to remain therein until the desired color and 
effect are obtained. This may be done before the leather is 
washed with water. 

In bleaching hemlock-tanned sole leather the procedure is as 
follows: Assuming that the tanning liquor in the last layer 
from which the leather is taken has a density of 40° barko- 
meter, an alkali bleaching bath is prepared of a density of 45° 
barkometer, by dissolving ninety-two pounds of quebracho ex- 
tract, fourteen pounds of borax and twenty-eight pounds of 
sodium carbonate in every ten cubic feet of water (625 pounds). 
This bath is heated to 140 degrees Fahr., and the leather, taken 
directly from the last layer in which the tanning operation has 
been completed, is immersed in it for five minutes, where- 
upon it is removed, drained for a few minutes, and then im- 
mersed in the acid bath. Five pounds of sulphuric acid are 
dissolved in ten cubic feet of water, and this solution is also 
heated to 140 degrees Fahr. In this acid bath the leather re- 
mains for five minutes, whereupon it is removed and thoroughly 
rinsed in cold water. When operating upon a large number of 
sides, it is necessary to strengthen from time to time both the 
alkaline bleaching bath and the acid bath. In practice the 
density of the alkaline bath may fall to 40° barkometer, where- 
upon a sufficient quantity of very concentrated aqueous alka- 
line solution of quebracho extract must be added containing 
the same ingredients as the alkaline bleaching bath and 4n the 
same proportions until the density of the alkaline bleaching 
bath again becomes 45 degrees barkometer. 



344 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

The acidity of the acid bath is maintained by adding after every 
fifty sides which have been immersed therein, from three-tenths 
to five-tenths of a pound of sulphuric acid to every ten cubic 
feet of water, If it is now desired to impart to this bleached 
leather an oak color, it is immersed in a liquor made from oak 
bark having a density of 40 degrees barkometer and a temper- 
ature of 100 degrees Fahr., and allowed to remain therein until 
the desired color is obtained. 

The above-described treatment results in very material ad- 
vantages over the ordinary process of bleaching. First, the 
leather, instead of being reduced in weight, is maintained or in- 
creased in weight, and consequently is of greater density resulting 
in greater durability of the articles made therefrom. Secondly, 
the bleach, instead of being merely a surface bleach, is one that 
may be prolonged so as to affect the entire fiber of the leather, 
and articles made therefrom will not vary in color from the 
effects of wear. Thirdly, it is practicable, by varying the 
strength of the solution, to produce any desired shade, and, 
therefore, to operate upon a mass of leather with uniform re- 
sults in this respect. It is always preferable to make use of an 
alkaline bleaching bath in which the proportion of tanning 
material is greater than that from which the leather was taken 
in the preceding operation, but it is possible to carry out this 
process with a bleaching solution in which the tanning material 
is in less proportion. 

The use of a bleaching solution consisting of tanning material, 
however, in connection with a sufificient quantity of alkali to 
produce the bleaching effect, instead of reducing the weight 
and density of the leather as usual, will maintain or increase it ; 
and in proportion as greater weight is needed it is desirable to 
increase the proportion of tanning material and alkali in the 
solution. 

The particular ingredients used, the proportions of the same 
in th^ baths, and the density and temperature of the baths may 
be varied and depend upon the tannery practice. This process 
is patented by Messrs. W. H. Krug and E. J. Haley. 



METHODS OF BLEACHING LEATHER. 345 

A writer in The Shoe and Leather Reporter describes his 
method of bleaching sole leather by hand in the following 
words : " Have two rows of boxes, four feet wide, five feet deep 
and fifty-six feet long. Have in the center four boxes, 4x4, 
two for soda and two for acid. Six men on each row of boxes, 
twelve men in all. Take the hides from the machine and hang 
in front of a box in cold water. Heat the soda boxes to 125 
degrees Fahr. ; the acid the same. Put in the first soda box 
twenty-two and one-half pounds soda ash, in the second soda 
box two and one-half pounds. In each acid box put thirty 
pounds sulphuric acid. Hand eight sides to each box, re- 
maining five minutes to each soda and acid box suspended on 
sticks. Pull from the acid in clear cold water in the end long 
box and leave in the box until filled. Then commence taking 
out, at the same time replacing from the acid box the space 
you are taking out from. Strengthening can be done with four 
pounds of soda and eight pounds of acid after every forty sides. 
When taken from the bleaching box, put through the wringer, 
oil by wheel, using one and one-quarter pounds oil to the side. 
One-third mineral and two-thirds cod oils makes a fine mixture 
and gives good results." 

Bleaching and Finishing Russet Leather. 

After the leather is split by a belt knife, retan it in the usual 
way, and when it is tanned take it to the scouring machine and 
scour it well on both sides. Twenty-five sides make a con- 
venient-sized pack to handle. Put them into a drum. The 
drum should have at least a dozen plugs in it. Put the twenty- 
five sides into the drum, close the door and run in through the 
axle forty gallons of water containing borax. 

Prepare the borax solution before it is to be used, by adding 
ten pounds of borax to fifteen gallons of water. Boil until the 
borax is dissolved, then run in cold water to make forty gallons 
and to cool the solution. Start the drum as the borax solution 
is being put in; allow the drum to run twenty or thirty min- 
utes, then remove the plugs and run it ten minutes longer. At 



346 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

the same time run in lukewarm water through the gudgeon or 
through the door. Care must be taken not to have the water 
over lukewarm or the leather will be spotted. After a few 
minutes it can easily be seen whether the water coming from the 
drum is getting clear; then leave the leather in the drum and 
give it a strong solution of sulphuric acid made as follows : 
Take a barrel of cold water and put in enough acid to bring 
the solution to 30 degrees 'Baume, or until it will bite the 
tongue. Let the sides run in this ten minutes with the plugs 
in, after which remove them and pour the acid water out of the 
drum while in motion. At the same time, throw in some water 
until no acid can be detected by the taste in the water coming 
from the wheel. 

The leather should then be sumacked in a drum or paddle 
vat. Good sumac must be used as a poor quality of it will leave 
iron spots. Make the sumac bath strong and hot and add a 
handful of salt to the liquor. If a drum is used, run the leather 
in the sumac liquor one-half hour, then rinse it in clean warm 
water and slick out the flesh. In a paddle vat, sumac the 
leather two or three hours. Keep it in motion and warm up 
the liquor when it gets too cool. After sumacking rinse the 
leather in lukewarm water, and a nice russet is the result, ready 
for colors or russet. 

If the leather is to be colored, the twenty-five sides can be 
colored at one operation. Dissolve the dye in boiling water,. 
Add eight pailfuls of warm water to the drum, put in the leather, 
add the dye liquor slowly and carefully, and run the sides in it 
thirty minutes ; rinse them in warm water and horse up for 
three hours, then fat-liquor. 

If russet leather is wanted no coloring is necessary. Give 
light fat-liquor, dry and finish. 

Colorless Dressing for Russet Leather. — To five gallons of 
water, add one-fourth ounce bichromate of potash, one pint 
of acetic acid, one gallon of egg albumen solution. Mix all 
together and keep in a cool place. 

Another receipt is : Dissolve four ounces of blood albumen 



METHODS OF BLEACHING LEATHER. 347 

in one gallon of water over night. Cook four ounces of granu- 
lated gelatine in one gallon of water and let it cool. Mix half 
a pint of white varnish shellac with half a pint of ammonia. 
Mix these materials together, and add enough water to make 
three gallons. This can be put on with a sponge, and it will 
make a handsome glaze. 

For a plain natural finish give two coats and roll well when 
wet, then hang up to dry. Now give another coat. If this 
finish is made up a week before it is used, it will be all the 
better, as the ammonia will evaporate and fancy colors will be 
less apt to be spotted. Less ammonia should anyhow be used 
for colors. 

Bleaching Mill-Stuffed Harness Leather. 

Place a barrelful of clear water at each end of the table. 
Heat the water m one barrel to 140 degrees Fahr., and keep 
the water in the other as cold as possible. Throw a pailful of 
cold water over the table to prevent the grease from sticking to 
it. Put a side of leather on the table, flesh side up, and throw 
a pailful of hot water on the side in such a way that the 
water will spread all over it as nearly at the same time as pos- 
sible. Then brush over with oxalic acid solution made by dis- 
solving two-thirds of a common teacupful of acid in a pailful of 
water, two and a half or three gallons of water heated to about 
the same temperature as the water being a pailful. Throw 
about one pint of the liquid on, right after the hot water, and 
brush over as quickly, and throw on a pailful of the cold water 
as soon as the acid has been rubbed in with the brush, which 
chills the flesh and prevents the hot water and acid from bring- 
ing the grease back to the surface. Apply the cold water in 
the same manner as the hot, so as to chill the whole side at the 
same time. Then glass the flesh over and hang the side up to 
dry. Sides that are bleached should be hung far enough apart 
so as not to touch each other before drying, and they will then 
dry out an even color. 

It is not necessary to slick the flesh out after the hot water 



348 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

is applied. The amount of grease that can be sHcked out of 
the flesh after hot water means just so much loss to the weight 
of the side. Throw a pailful of cold water on the table after each 
side is bleached, and slick the table ofif so as to take off any 
acid that may be on it, which will take off the black as soon as 
it comes into contact with it. This process is a very satisfac- 
tory one, and two men can bleach one hundred and forty or 
more sides in a day. 



SECTION NINE. 

The Tanning of Furs and Hair Skins. 

Dry Tanning. — Furs and hair skins can be easily and satis- 
factorily tanned in the following manner : Prepare the skins for 
tanning by beaming and scraping them on the flesh side until 
they are free from flesh and greasy matter. They should not 
be soaked at first. Soaking and softening is done with wet 
sawdust. Soak some sawdust in water. Spread the skins out 
smoothly, flesh side up, and spread the wet sawdust an inch 
deep on the flesh side and let them lay until they are softened. 
In the case of greasy skins that are soaked in borax water and 
washed in warm sal soda, this treatment with wet sawdust may 
be omitted ; others should be softened with it. When soft they 
are ready to be tanned. 

Prepare a tanning paste of alum, salt and oatmeal. Take 
one gallon of rain water, heat it and stir in enough pulverized 
alum to make a very puckery solution ; then add one-half as 
much salt as alum, and boil until the alum and salt are dis- 
solved. While the solution is boiling, add one-half pound of 
oatmeal or rolled oats, boil fifteen minutes, and then set the 
paste aside to cool. By adding a few ounces of gambler to the 
liquor and boiHng together, the skins may be given a light- 
yellow color. 

The cleaned and softened skins should be spread out on a 
table, flesh side up. Use a brush or a swab of wool and spread 
on the tanning paste, giving a heavy coat all over each skin. 
Repeat this painting process each day until the skins are 
tanned, which takes from two to six days, according to their 
thickness. Light skins tan in two or three days ; heavy ones 
require five or six days. 

When the skins are tanned hang them up to dry in a shady 

( 349) 



350 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

place or in a warm drying-room. After they have begun to 
dry they should be stretched and worked with some kind of a 
staker so that when dry they are also soft and white. No 
soaking or washing is necessary, but when dry and soft the 
fur should be cleaned with dry, hot sawdust. If a perfectly 
clear flesh is wanted, bufT on an emery wheel. 

Cleaning the fur can be done in a drum or cage when a great 
many skins are to be cleaned ; on a small scale they can be 
tramped on or pounded in a barrel or tub, or they can be 
cleaned by brushing the hot sawdust into the fur with the hands 
and then beating it out with a switch until the fur is bright, 
clean and fluffy. Hardwood sawdust is better for the purpose 
than pine. When tanned by this process the skins are very 
soft and the fur is flufify and clean. It is best to keep the hair 
side dry by keeping the skins out of water during the entire 
process, unless they are greasy, when it is necessary to wash 
them in warm sal soda water. 

A good formula for the tanning paste is: 

Pulverized alum i pound. 

Salt 3o pound. 

Rolled oats i pound. 

Water i pailful. 

Tanning with Bran, Altini and Salt. — Mix bran into soft 
water until there is enough of the mixture or liquor to cover 
the skins. Put them into the bran water and keep them cov- 
ered for twenty-four hours; then remove them, wash them 
clean and carefully scrape ofT all flesh. Prepare a tanning 
liquor by dissolving one pound of alum and one-half pound of 
salt in one gallon of hot water. When the liquor is cool put 
the skins into it for twenty-four hours, then dry them and rub 
well or work them out soft. Immerse the skins again in the 
liquor for twenty-four hours, then dry them as before. Then 
immerse them in a mixture of oatmeal and warm water, or of 
flour and water for twenty-four hours, then dry and work them 
out soft. This makes them white and soft and fit for immediate 
use. 



THE TANNING OF FURS AND HAIR SKINS. 35 1 

Flout in the Tanning Paste. — To get a white flesh on the 
skins it is advisable to use flour in the tanning paste. Prepare 
a solution of alum and salt and stir in enough flour to make a 
paste. Apply the paste every day for three or four days, then 
hang the skins up to dry. The drying and softening should be 
done together so that when dry the skins are also fully worked 
out and soft. 

Tanning with Ganibier, Alum and Salt. — Furs and hair skins 
can be nicely tanned in a combination process of gambler, alum 
and salt. They are first put into a fairly strong solution of 
alum and salt and left in it twenty-four hours. They are then 
transferred to a gambler liquor not over three degrees barko- 
meter strength and handled every three hours until the strength 
is down to one degree. Then a six-degree liquor should be 
used and the skins handled every few hours until they are 
tanned through. The alum fastens the hair at once and pre- 
vents it from falling out during the gambier tannage. The 
alum-tanned skin absorbs the gambier very rapidly, and the 
process makes it very soft without the necessity of using 
very much grease. Other vegetable tanning material may be 
used in place of gambier, such as quebracho, hemlock or pal- 
metto extract. 

When tanned the skins should be washed, dried and made 
soft and smooth on the flesh side, after which a solution of oil 
and soap should be applied. Boil five pounds of castile or 
other soap in a gallon of water, add a quart of parafifine oil, mix 
thoroughly and apply a light coat to the flesh side of each skin. 
When dry, run the skins in sawdust and then in a slat wheel or 
cage to clean them and make them soft. 

Washing Greasy Skins. — Such skins as raccoon and dog and 
others that contain a good deal of grease should be washed in 
a warm solution of sal soda and then scraped over the beam to 
rid them of as much of the grease as possible before they are 
tanned. Dogskins should be fleshed before they are soaked as 
they then flesh more easily than after soaking. After they have 
been fleshed they are soaked and washed preparatory to being 



352 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

tanned. Dry skins are quickly and safely soaked and softened 
in water containing borax. Borax may be used in sufficiently 
large quantities to remove much of the oil and grease without 
the slightest injury to the skins. 

Furs and hair skins should be soaked for a short time only, 
so that the hair will not slip. Greasy skins should be scraped 
or fleshed before they are soaked, but if they are dry a little 
soaking in lukewarm borax water will be helpful. 

To wash greasy skins prepare a warm solution of sal soda by 
dissolving sal soda in water heated to 90 degrees Fahr. Dip 
the skins into this solution long enough to get them wet and 
hot, then put them on the beam and go over them with a 
flesher or dull knife, bearing down hard and forcing the grease 
out. The dipping and scraping may be repeated until the 
skins are free from grease ; next wash them in cold water, let 
them drain and then tan them. Skins that are not greasy do 
not require washing in soda water but they should be free of 
flesh, lumps of fat and blood. 

Chrome-tanned Furs and Hair Skins. — The best way to tan 
furs and hair skins by a chrome process is with one-bath 
chrome liquor. , The skins will work out soft and strong, and 
they will always remain soft no matter how often they are wet. 
The fur can be colored just as readily as though the skin was 
alum-tanned. A good process of tanning is carried out in the 
following manner : 

The skins, thoroughly softened, fleshed and washed, are put 
into a strong solution of alum and salt. To make this, two and 
one-half pounds of alum are dissolved by boiling in five gallons 
of water and one pound of salt is added and dissolved. When 
the solution has cooled down to 75 degrees Fahr., the skins are 
put in and stirred about for one-half hour and then allowed to 
remain in the solution from twelve to twenty-four hours, when 
they will be struck through with the alum liquor. They are 
then taken out, and three pounds of salt and some concentrated 
chrome liquor are added to the alum solution. Enough chrome 
liquor should be added to make a three or four per cent, liquor, 



THE TANNING OF FURS AND HAIR SKINS. 353 

that is, three or four gallons of chrome liquor to one hundred 
gallons of water. As the skins absorb the tanning material, 
more concentrated chrome liquor should be added, and they 
should remain in the bath until they are tanned through. 
When the green color has penetrated through the thickest skins 
a few ounces of bicarbonate of soda should be added to the 
liquor and the skins left in one day longer; they should next 
be washed first in borax water and then in clear water, and 
finally hung up to dry. As soon as the excess of water 
has drained ofif a paste of soap, oil and flour is applied to them, 
and they are then dried, staked, softened and cleaned. 

Another process consists of pickling the skins with sulphuric 
acid and salt, and then tanning them in a chrome bath. The 
pickle is prepared by dissolving eighty pounds of salt and three 
quarts of sulphuric acid in one hundred gallons of water. 
Light skins are stirred about in this liquor fifteen minutes, and 
then allowed to remain in the liquor over night ; heavy ones 
and hides are left in the liquor twenty-four hours or longer. 
After they are pickled, they are allowed to drain twenty-four 
hours before they are tanned. 

To make up the tanning bath, fifty pounds of salt and five 
gallons of concentrated chrome liquor are added to one hun- 
dred gallons of water, the solution being thoroughly stirred and 
plunged before the skins are put in. A paddle wheel should 
be used for the process. At the end of two or three hours 
more chrome liquor should be added, and more again at the 
end of a few hours. The skins are allowed to rest in the liquor 
over night, and the next morning more chrome material is 
added, making in all from fifteen to twenty gallons to one hun- 
dred gallons of water. Skins tan thoroughly in two or three 
days, while hides require four or five days. 

The tanned skins are horsed up twenty-four hours. They 
are then put into a mill together with a solution of carbonate 
of potash made by dissolving one pound of it in fifteen gallons 
of water, and washed therein for one-half hour. They are then 
washed ten minutes in clear water, partially dried, painted with 
a mixture of soap, oil and flour, dried and staked out soft. 
23 



354 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

The pickle liquor can be used for twelve packs of skins by 
adding fifty pounds of salt and two quarts of sulphuric acid to 
one hundred gallons of liquor for each pack. After twelve 
packs have been pickled, a new liquor should be prepared. 

The tan liquor can be used for twelve packs of skins by 
adding twenty-five pounds of salt to each one hundred gallons 
of liquor and then using fifteen gallons of concentrated chrome 
liquor for each pack. After four packs have been tanned, 
eight ounces of carbonate of potash should be dissolved and 
added to the liquor to neutralize the acid that has accumulated. 

After twelve packs have been tanned, a new liquor should be 
prepared. The paste that is applied to the skins is made of 
olive oil soap, three pounds ; neatsfoot oil, one gallon ; water, 
ten gallons. Boil the soap in the water until dissolved, then 
add the oil and boil ten minutes. Allow the solution to cool to 
90 degrees Fahr., then stir in flour until the paste is smooth 
enough to spread evenly. Apply this to the skins when they 
have dried a little or after they have drained well, then dry and 
stake them and run them in sawdust to clean them. Any good 
chrome fat-liquor may be applied to the skins with good results. 
Another good tanning process is as follows : 

Equal parts of borax, saltpetre and Glauber's salts (sulphate 
of soda), about one-third of an ounce for each skin, are made 
with water into a paste, and this is spread over the inside of the 
skins, more being applied on the thick than on the thin parts. 
The skins are folded together and left in a cool place for 
twenty-four hours, then they are scraped and rinsed off and the 
following mixture applied in the same manner as before : One 
ounce of either sal-soda or borax, two ounces of hard white 
soap, melted slowly together without being allowed to boil. 
They are left with this mixture upon them for twenty-four 
hours. Alter this they are put into a solution composed of 
three ounces of alum, six ounces of salt, dissolved in sufficient 
hot water to cover them. When this liquor is cooled down to 
ninety degrees Fahr., they may be immersed therein for twelve 
hours, after which they are wrung out and dried. They may 



THE TANNING OF FURS AND HAIR SKINS. 355 

require to be put back in the liquor for a few hours longer, de- 
pending upon their condition. The flesh side after drying may- 
be cleaned and made smooth with sandpaper or pumice stone. 

The ingredients of the paste may be made into a liquor and 
used warm, and the stock left therein for twenty-four hours. 
This method of tanning makes the skins very soft, the hair is 
finely set, and has a peculiar gloss that is especially desirable. 

Oiling Alum-tanned Skins. — Alum-tanned skins that are not 
naturally greasy, such as calfskins, deerskins, etc., should re- 
ceive a coat of oil after they have been tanned and dressed 
down. A good mineral oil is satisfactory. Mop the oil over 
the skins, let them lay in a pile for a few days and then hang 
them up to dry. Working out and cleaning in sawdust com- 
plete the process. The sawdust not only takes the dirt out of 
the hair but also absorbs the oil, so that when cleaned in an 
open wheel the skins are made soft and clean. Sometimes 
two or three runnings in sawdust are required to properly clean 
and finish them. 

A solution of soap, also one of stearine, is recommended for 
alum-tanned skins. The use of either of these solutions fixes 
the tannage so that it cannot be easily removed by water and 
also makes the skins softer. 

Dogskins can be tanned in any of the processes described 
for furs and hair skins, also with sulphate of alumina and salt 
as directed for wool skins. No oil or grease is necessary to 
make them soft. It is usually necessary, though, to degrease 
them, which is done with whiting and salt. 

A practical method of tanning dogskins consists in immersing 
them, after washing in sal soda water, in a solution of alum and 
salt or one of sulphate of alumina and salt for a few days, which 
accomplishes thorough tanning and setting of the hair. 

They are then rinsed in water and drained, then tacked out 
while wet upon boards or stretched in frames and a paste of 
whiting is applied to the flesh side. The paste is made of 
whiting and water, and should be quite thick. It is spread 
evenly on the skins, which are now placed in a warm room and 



356 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

dried. In drying, the whiting absorbs the grease. The paste 
should then be scraped off and another coat put on and dried. 
The operation is repeated two, three, and sometimes four times 
until the grease is entirely absorbed and the whiting dries 
white. When the skins are free from grease, scrape off the 
whiting and wash the flesh ; then either apply a tanning paste 
to the skins or put them into a tanning liquor of alum and salt 
to retan them, after which dry and finish in the usual manner. 
The retannage can also be a mixture of pulverized alum and 
fine salt rubbed into the wet skin. 

Receipt for Deodorizing Furs and Skins. 

The following solution is useful in removing odor from furs 
and hair skins : Into four gallons of water put eight pounds 
of tanner's soap, or any other good bar soap, chipped fine. 
Add seven pounds of sal soda. Heat until the soap and soda 
are dissolved, and while hot, add one and one-quarter ounces 
of borax, five-eighths of an ounce of sulphate of soda, and one 
ounce of oil of sassafras. Put the solution aside to cool and it 
is then ready for use. This liquor can be used on skunk skins> 
but they should not be rinsed out before tanning. After tan- 
ning and drying, work them in hot sawdust and the odor will 
have disappeared. 

How TO Clean Furs. 

Dark furs may be cleaned with bran or with cedar, mahogany 
or other hardwood sawdust, which has been heated in an oven. 
Beat the fur gently with a switch until free from dust, then lay 
the skins on a table with the fur side up and rub the hot saw- 
dust or bran through the fur. Use plenty of sawdust and rub 
vigorously. After this beat the skin until the sawdust or bran 
IS out of the fur. 

White furs can be cleaned in the same manner except that 
white cornmeal is used instead of sawdust. The cornmeal 
should be heated. Soiled places may be cleaned by rubbing 
with cube magnesia. Allow the powder from the magnesia to 



THE TANNING OF FURS AND HAIR SKINS. 35/ 

remain in the fur for a day, then brush and shake the skin 
thoroughly. 

Professional cleaners clean fur garments, muffs, etc., by dip- 
ping into gasoline until clean, then drying and smoothing by 
the use of hard bread crust, passing same lightly with the grain 
of the fur. 

The Tanning of Hides for Robes, Coats, Etc. 

Hides intended to be tanned with the hair upon them, and 
used in the manufacture of coats and robes, should be soaked 
in fresh water before they are tanned, in order to rid them of 
dirt, blood and other undesirable substances adhering to them. 
They should be soaked long enough to become thoroughly 
softened, the length of time varying from twelve to twenty-four 
hours. Dry hides are much more difficult to soften than salted 
ones. Borax is useful in softening dry hides, also a strong 
solution of salt and water. When borax is used, from five to 
six pounds of it are dissolved in hot water and poured into the 
water to be used for soaking and vigorously stirred through- 
out ^the same, the quantity of borax mentioned being enough 
for one thousand gallons of water. The efifectiveness? of the 
borax soak is increased when its temperature is raised with 
steam to about 90 degrees Fahr. The hides may be left in 
the soak for twelve hours, and should then be worked upon the 
beam or milled in a drum in a solution of borax and water, or 
they may be softened in a hide mill. After the milling, they 
require further soaking in the vats, according to their condi- 
tion. When a salt solution is used, it should be made up in a 
vat and sufficient salt should be taken to make the liquor decid- 
edly salty. The hides may be left in the brine for from twelve 
to twenty-four hours, next milled in a pin-mill drum in the salt 
solution for thirty minutes, and then put back into the brine 
for another twelve or twenty four hours. This method of 
softening is very satisfactory. After the soaking is completed, 
the hides should be fleshed, and all flesh and lumps of fat re- 
moved from them before they are tanned. 



358 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Sometimes hides are received by tanners in a partially tanned 
condition, that is, some one has attempted to tan them without 
sufficient knowledge or without the facilities necessary to do 
the work. In order to soften and cleanse such goods so that 
they can be readily tanned and finished, they should be placed 
in a pin-mill drum with either a borax solution or a solution of 
salt and water and milled in the same until sufficiently softened.- 
They must be watched, however, to see that the hair does not 
become loosened by the violent treatment in the mill. There 
are various ways of tanning hides with the hair on. A very 
common method is by the use of alum and salt. This is really 
more of a curing than a tanning process. While the hides can 
be made very soft and strong by the use of alum and salt, they 
have one very objectionable feature. They gather moisture 
and become heavy and damp in moist weather. 

Alum and Salt Process. 

In applying the alum and salt process, the hides are taken 
after being fleshed, and are immersed in a fairly strong solu- 
tion of alum and salt, care being taken to expose all parts of 
the flesh side to the liquor, so that the hair roots may become 
firmly fixed and hair slipping avoided. The hides should be 
given plenty of room in the liquor, so that they can be handled 
about once in a while, and their positions changed. It is good 
practice to hang them upon sticks and suspend them in the 
liquor. The strength of the alum and salt solution is a matter 
of judgment. The stronger it is the more readily it will pene- 
trate into the hides and the less will be the time consumed by 
the process. Perhaps as good a rule to follow as any is to use 
twice as much salt as alum. Hides may be well struck through 
with a liquor made up of six pounds of alum and twelve pounds 
of salt for each one hundred pounds of them to be tanned. 
They should be left in the liquor until they have become per- 
meated with it, the length of time required to accomplish this 
depending upon their thickness and the strength of alum and 
salt liquor, after which they should be soaked for ten minutes 



THE TANNING OF FURS AND HAIR SKINS. 359 

in clean cold water, drained and hung up to dry. When they 
have become about two-thirds dry they should be laid in piles 
for a few days to become uniformly soft and moist, before they 
are dressed down to the desired substance. While they are 
lying in piles they must be watched and occasionally handled, 
especially in warm weather, to prevent heating, which always 
causes more or less damage, according to the degree of heat 
developed. 

The dressing or cutting down to a light substance is gener- 
ally done by hand. This work requires considerable skill and 
judgment in order that the hide may be smooth and of even 
thickness and free from holes. After the hides have been cut 
or dressed down, it is advisable to retan them. This may be 
done in various ways. They may be placed back in the alum 
and salt solution ; they may be retanned with alum and salt 
in a pin-mill drum ; or sulphate of alumina and salt, followed 
by a treatment with hyposulphite of soda, may be used, and 
the retanning may also be done in pin-mill drums with a solu- 
tion of gambler and salt, or a combination of quebracho and 
hemlock liquors. Quebracho extract, being a good tanner and 
making soft stock, may be used alone. 

To retan the hides place them in a pin-mill drum with a solu- 
tion of sulphate of alumina and salt, made up in the propor- 
tions of four pounds of the alumina and eight pounds of salt, 
dissolved, and mixed into twenty gallons of water for every one 
hundred pounds of hides. In this solution the hides may be 
drummed from thirty minutes to one hour. Then for every 
one hundred pounds of stock in the drum ten pounds of hypo- 
sulphite of soda may be dissolved in five gallons of warm water 
and added to the contents of the drum. A further drumming 
for thirty minutes completes the process, and secures a per- 
manent fixation of the tanning materials upon the fibers of the 
hides. When taken from the drum the hides should be dipped 
singly into cold water to remove surplus tanning material, 
drained, hung up and dried. When they are nearly dry and 
yet retaining some moisture, they should be stufTed with oil or 



360 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

grease and then dried thoroughly, after which they require 
thorough working to regain their softness lost during drying, 
and also a thorough cleaning in dry sawdust. By a retannage 
of gambier and salt, the unpleasant features of alum-tanned 
stock are prevented, and the hides made permanently soft and 
strong. The gambier and salt liquor may be applied either 
in drums or in vats, the process being carried along until the 
liquor has thoroughly permeated the hides ; then they may be 
left in piles for forty-eight hours, drained well, and hung up 
to dry, 

A combination liquor of quebracho and hemlock extracts 
produces good results. About two-thirds of the liquor should 
be quebracho and one-third hemlock ; one supplements the 
other. A weak solution of quebracho extract may be used 
alone. These vegetable-tanning materials may be applied in 
drums or vats. 

Softening the Stock. 

For the purpose of imparting softness to the stock, oils of 
various descriptions may be used, also combinations of tallow, 
soap and oil. Fish oils are very satisfactory, but somewhat 
too expensive. Mineral oils of good quality produce good re- 
sults. A heavy coat of the oil should be given upon the flesh 
sides. Any excess of water in the hides should be guarded 
against, as this prevents the proper absorption of the oil. The 
oil should be allowed to penetrate into the goods by slow 
drying, after which they should be left in the dry condition for 
some time before they are finished. The longer the hides are 
kept in the dry condition, the softer they will be when they are 
finally finished. 

Softening and cleaning of the hides is best accomplished in 
revolving mills or drums especially constructed for the purpose. 
The oil, grease and dirt are taken up by dry sawdust in a closed 
drum, and in an open drum the sawdust carrying the oil and 
grease with it, is cleaned out of the stock. The cleaning pro- 
cess needs to be repeated two or three times to get the stock 
perfectly clean and soft. 



THE TANNING OF FURS AND HAIR SKINS. 36 1 

Calf-skins and other hair skins maybe tanned in the manners 
suggested for heavy hides. In the case of alum-tanned stock, 
some yellow ochre may be added to the saw-dust, it gives to 
the flesh side a desirable yellow color. 



SECTION TEN. 

Miscellaneous Processes of Tanning, Coloring, and- 
Finishing Leather. 

how to make and use acid-fat liquor. 

Acid Fat-liquor of Castor Oil. — In the manufacture of sul- 
phonated oil for acid fat-liquor, the acid must be added very 
slowly to the oil ; the oil should be very thoroughly stirred 
while the acid is being added to it and when it is being washed 
out; the oil must be kept chilled while it is being acidified. 

Take a barrel and saw it in two parts just below the two 
hoops near the top. This makes a tub of suitable size. Then 
put a 15-gallon crock into the half barrel and surround it with 
cold water by filling the half barrel. If the water is not below 
60 degrees Fahr., add ice to bring the temperature down, since 
it must be cold enough to chill the oil. Put six gallons of 
No. 2 castor oil into the crock and allow it to stand over 
night to become thoroughly chilled. 

The next morning at eight o'clock stir very carefully and thor- 
oughly into the oil six ounces of sulphuric acid of 66 degrees 
Baume and stir for at least five minutes after the acid has been 
poured in. At eleven o'clock stir in six ounces more of sulphuric 
acid, taking care to add it slowly and to stir very thoroughly. 
At three o'clock in the afternoon stir in another six ounces of 
acid, and at six o'clock six ounces more should be added under 
careful and thorough stirring. The next morning at seven 
o'clock add six ounces of acid to the oil, and every three hours 
thereafter add six ounces of acid until twenty-four ounces have 
been stirred into the oil the second day. 

On the morning of the third day, take a perfectly clean 
barrel and put a wooden spigot into it as close to the bottom 

( 362 ) 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 363. 

as possible. Put the barrel upon a box or block, so that it will 
be six or eight inches off the floor. Pour the acid-treated oil 
into the barrel and fill the latter two-thirds full of water at 85 
degrees Fahr. Add to .the water and oil thirty pounds of salt 
and stir for fifteen minutes. Do this every half hour for five 
hours ; then allow the oil to rise to the top, open the spigot 
and let the salt water run off until oil begins to show. 
Close the spigot and fill the barrel with warm water as before, 
then add- twenty-four pounds of salt and stir for fifteen minutes. 
Allow the oil and salt water to stand over night until the morn- 
ing of the fourth day. Then draw the water off as before, and 
fill the barrel again with water, adding eighteen pounds of salt 
and stirring the same as before. Then draw off the water 
again and fill the barrel with warm water and put in fifteen 
pounds of salt. Stir thoroughly for ten or fifteen minutes and 
allow the oil to stand over night. The next morning draw the 
water off, and the oil that remains in the barrel is ready for 
use. In order to get a satisfactory product the oil must be 
well stirred when washing out the acid, and the acid must 
never be put in fast enough to burn the oil. To keep the oil,. 
add a little water to it, about twice its own weight ; before add- 
ing the water, stir in enough concentrated ammonia to neutral- 
ize whatever acid there may be in the oil and to carry the oil 
to the alkaline side. 

Acid Fat-liquors of Neatsfoot and Cod Oils. — Take thirty 
pounds of neatsfoot oil and twenty pounds of cod oil and mix 
them in a twenty or twenty-five gallon crock, which should be 
standing in a tub containing cold water. If the temperature of 
the water is more than 65 degrees Fahr. add some ice to it so 
that it will be cold enough to chill the oil. Put the oil in the 
crock before closing down for the night, and in the morning it 
will be chilled. For the fifty pounds of oil use eighty-eight 
ounces of sulphuric acid and divide it into four equal portions. 
In the morning about eight o'clock pour one portion of the 
acid, 22 ounces, very slowly into the oil, stirring the oil while 
the acid is being added and for five minutes afterward. It 



364 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

should take about fifteen minutes to add the acid. Allow the 
oil to stand until five o'clock in the afternoon. Then add an- 
other portion of the acid, stirring thoroughly as in the morn- 
ing. Let the oil stand until the next morning, and then add to 
it very slowly and with thorough stirring 22 ounces more of acid. 
At about five o'clock of the second day, add the last portion of 
acid to the oil, stirring thoroughly as before, and taking fifteen 
minutes to add the acid. Thus the eighty-eight ounces of acid 
have been stirred into the oil. 

On the morning of the third day, the acid-treated oil is in 
condition to be washed. Use a large barrel or tub that will 
liold one hundred gallons, and put a spigot in it as close to the 
bottom as possible, and put the barrel or tub on an elevation 
so that it will be some distance from the floor. Put the oil into 
the tub or barrel and add enough water at 100 degrees Fahr. 
to make the tub nearly half full of water. To the water add a 
pailful of Glauber's salt and stir hard, then add more water until 
nearly full. Allow this to stand until towards night of the 
third day, then open the spigot and let the water run off. Close 
the spigot and fill the tub same as before with warm water and 
add a little less than a pailful of Glauber's salt. Allow the mix- 
ture to stand until the next day and then draw off the water the 
same as before. Then fill up again with warm water and use 
one and one-quarter pailfuls of common salt. Stir the oil and 
the water very thoroughly, and allow the mixture to stand twelve 
hours. Then draw off the water and fill the tub again nearly 
full with warm water, and add one and one-half pailfuls of com- 
mon salt. Stir the oil very thoroughly, and then allow the 
mixture to stand until the next day. The water should then be 
drawn off, and the oil is now ready for use. 

In using neatsfoot and cod oils equal parts of the two oils may 
be employed. From one and one-half to two ounces of acid 
should be taken for every pound of oil, never more than the 
latter quantity. A little more than one and three-fourths 
ounces is a safe quantity for each pound of oil. The acid 
should be divided into four equal portions. When the washing 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 365^^ 

of the oil is completed add cold water, about twice the weight 
of the oil, and enough strong ammonia to neutraHze the last 
traces of acid that remain in the oil. 

Castor oil may be treated in the same manner as described 
for neatsfoot and cod oils. While these oils make good fat- 
liquor, castor oil really makes the more desirable article. 

How to Use the Acid-Treated Oil. — When the oil has been 
properly treated with acid and washed it is readily soluble in 
warm water. To use it, the required quantity is dissolved in 
water and the skins are drummed in the solution. One hun- 
dred pounds of chrome leather may be fat-liquored with from 
four to five and one-half pounds of the oil dissolved in ten or 
twelve gallons of water at 125 degrees Fahr. The drum used 
for the purpose should be as clean as possible ; and the skins 
should be warmed in the hot drum before they are given the 
fat-liquor. The exact quantity of oil to be be used must be 
determined by the man in charge of the work, and depends 
upon the degree of softness desired. Drum the leather in the 
fat-liquor from thirty to forty minutes ; then take it out and 
rinse it off, each piece singly, in a tub of clean hot water so as to 
remove the oil from the exterior. This operation is especially 
necessary when the skins are colored after fat-liquoring. If 
colored before fat-liquoring, rinse the leather, let it drain a few 
hours, then strike it out and dry it without oiling the grain. 

HOW TO COLOR CHROME-TANNED SKINS WITH SUMAC AND 

ANILINE DYES. 

A satisfactory way to color the skins consists of mordanting 
with sumac and tartar emetic and then applying the dye. For 
one dozen skins of average size two pounds of dry powdered 
sumac are used. The sumac is added to warm water at about 
no degrees Fahr., and the goods are drummed in the liquor 
twenty minutes. Then add for each dozen skins two ounces of 
tartar emetic, dissolved in hot water and drum twenty minutes 
longer. Then rinse in clean, warm water to free them from the 
sumac, put them back into the drum, which should be empty 



366 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

and clean, and drum in the aniline solution. Extract of sumac 
is also used with good results. For six dozen skins of average 
size about one and one-half pounds of the extract are used in 
water at no degrees Fahr. Drum the skins in this liquor 
twenty minutes ; then dissolve and pour into the drum three- 
quarters of a pound of tartar emetic and drum twenty minutes 
longer. Then rinse the skins in warm water and color them. 

Another good method of preparing skins for aniline coloring 
is carried out in the following manner: The skins are washed 
and shaved and put into a hot bath of Sicily sumac and alum, 
which makes them of a light color, softens them and prepares 
them for the coloring bath. They are then rinsed in warm 
water and struck out to remove surplus sumac; they are now 
in condition to be colored. The sumac bath may be applied 
in a drum or in a vat and tartar emetic may be used as de- 
scribed above. If white flesh and colored grain are wanted, the 
skins may be colored with brushes on the grain only, or folded 
grain out, and dipped into the dye. 

These instructions apply to stock that is to be colored with 
basic aniline dyes. Chrome-tanned skins are also colored with 
acid dyes and without the use of sumac. The dyes used upon 
skins treated with sumac are not suitable for dyeing leather not 
treated with it, whereas dyes that are used for this purpose 
may also be applied to sumaced skins, upon which, however, 
they produce somewhat different shades. 

The dyeing is done preferably in a drum ; and it is always 
best to start with about one-third of the quantity of dyestuff 
required and to add the rest after about ten minutes, the dye- 
ing being then continued twenty minutes or longer or until the 
skins have absorbed the dyestufif and are colored the .«^hade 
desired. After dyeing, the goods are rinsed in cold water, 
struck out and fat-liquored. 

Instead of experimenting with different dyes, in the effort to 
get a certain shade, it is better for a tanner to send a piece of 
leather, colored the desired shade, to some good dye supply 
house and have the practical dyers there match it. Almost 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 367 

any shade can be matched in this way. Very frequently it is 
necessary to combine two, three or more dyes in varying pro- 
portions in order to get the shade that is wanted. Nearly all 
the popular shades can be procured of the dealers indyestuffs, 
requiring only careful application to get satisfactory results. 
The methods of preparing the skins that have been described 
are applicable to the coloring of any kind of them ; they have 
been used in the production of marketable leather. 

RETANNING WITH GAMBIER AND SUMAC. 

Leather that has been tanned in hemlock liquors, no matter 
what the finish may be, is much improved by being retanned 
with gambler and sumac. Hemlock has excellent filling prop- 
erties, but it also makes the leather somewhat harsh, and the 
black on such leather after a time turns to a dull gray black. 
When the leather is retanned with gambier and sumac, the 
flanks are made fuller and firmer, the fibers are slightly con- 
tracted, the harshness of the hemlock is toned down, and the 
leather is given a smooth feel and the color will not fade. The 
results are firmer, tougher and more supple leather, a more 
permanent and deeper black. The leather is tanned with hem- 
lock and then split. 

The retanning is preferably done in a drum, as it can thus be 
accomplished in less time than is required in a vat. A good 
retanning liquor for harness and other leathers is prepared in 
the following manner: Boil in eighty gallons of water two hun- 
dred and fifty pounds of gambier; when fairly cool, skim off 
all foreign matter. Ten gallons of this liquor are sufficient for 
thirty average sides, and this quantity is put into the drum to- 
gether with the leather and to it are added two gallons of dry 
sumac and as much water as is needed to make the leather wet 
without dripping. Run the leather in the hquor at least thirty 
minutes. The sides should then be packed in boxes by 
doubling the flesh side outwards and left in that condition for 
ten or twelve hours. They should then be scoured or washed 
and treated in the usual way of coloring, fat-liquoring, etc., 



368 PRACTICAL TANNING, 

according to the kind of leather and the finish that is wanted. 
Thirty minutes in the drum will do as much for the leather as a 
much longer time in a vat. Gambler and sumac used as de- 
scribed greatly improve the leather, and the expense of their 
use is repaid by the improved quality. Palmetto extract may 
be used with good results in place of gambler and sumac, as 
well as oak extract. 

Bark and extract-tanned leather may be retanned with gam- 
bier and sumac in the following manner: Two pailfuls of Sicily 
sumac fifteen minutes are boiled in forty gallons of water, and 
the resulting liquor is allowed to stand over night. The next 
morning twelve and one-half pounds of gambier are boiled 
until dissolved, and this solution and ten pounds of salt are 
added to the sumac liquor. There should be fifty gallons of 
the liquor, which should be used at 80 degrees Fahr. The 
leather is run in it for one hour, then left in piles twenty-four 
hours, next rinsed oft", and fat-liquored. Before being retanned, 
the leather, after it has been split and shaved, should be washed 
one- half hour in warm water containing three pounds of salts of 
tartar dissolved in fifty gallons of water. It is next drained and 
washed for fifteen minutes, and then retanned. 

Retanning with Sumac. — One dozen medium-sized sides 
may be retanned with two pailfuls of sumac. The sumac is 
boiled in twenty gallons of water, and the liquor allowed to 
stand until it is cool. The leather is then drummed in it 
from one to one-half hours, and next placed in a pile for 
twenty-four hours. It is then drummed in sumac again, the 
same as before, and then piled down for twenty-four hours, after 
which it is dipped into warm water, to wash off the sumac, 
scoured, fat-liquored and dried. 

TANNING WITH GAMBIER, SUMAC AND OAK EXTRACT. 

This process of tanning may be used in tanning sheep, calf 
and goat skins for linings and for other colored and black 
leather. The skins should not be pickled after drenching; if 
they are pickled it is advisable to remove the pickle before 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 369 

tanning them. A liquor composed of gambier and sumac of 
about 10 degrees barkometer is prepared in a paddle vat. 
After the skins have been in this liquor five hours, they are 
put into a gambier liquor of about 20 degrees barkometer. It 
is advisable to add a quart of acetic acid to every five or six 
dozen of them. They remain in this liquor seven hours. 

The third liquor should be made up to a strength of 30 or 
35 degrees barkometer, and the same quantity of acid should 
be added to it. After the skins have been in this liquor half 
an hour a pailful of oak wood extract should be dissolved and 
added. When thoroughly tanned, the skins are horsed up and 
drained, then sumaced. A sumac liquor is made up in a 
paddle vat by using twenty-five pounds of best Sicily sumac in 
water heated to 125 degrees Fahr., the liquor being cooled 
down to 90 degrees Fahr. before the skins are put in. They 
may be turned in this liquor several hours, or an hour or two, 
and left in over night. They are then drained, rinsed ofT, and 
hung up to dry, or fat-liquored and dried. 

When thoroughly dry, they may be dampened, shaved and 
colored any desired shade or dyed black. The leather is soft 
and well tanned. 

Undoubtedly equally good results would be obtained by 
using quebracho or palmetto extract in place of gambier. 

PROCESS OF COLORING CHROME LEATHER AFTER 
FAT-LIQUORING. 

Mr. Charles Lamb, an English leather expert, describes in 
the following words a process of coloring chrome-tanned 
leather that he perfected : 

"Considerable difficulty has been experienced in the dyeing 
of chrome leather, especially if the dyeing is done after the 
operation known as fat-liquoring, which consists in treating 
the leather with a mixture of soap and oil. 

" Chrome-tanned leather takes the dye exceedingly well be- 
fore it has been fat-liquored, but this method of working has 
the very serious objection that the subsequent fat-liquoring 
24 



370 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

takes a part of the dye out of the skins, thus making it prac- 
tically impossible to dye to shade. The main objection to 
dyeing after fat-liquoring is the great amount of dye that must 
be used in order to produce a full shade. Another objection 
is that sulphuric acid cannot be employed with the acid colors, 
as is done in dyeing ordinary vegetable-tanned stock. The 
action of the sulphuric acid in the latter case is to liberate the 
color acid of the dyestuff, which combines with the fiber of the 
leather, and so produces a depth of color on the skin fully 
twice as deep as would have been the case had no vitriol been 
there. If vitriol was added to the dye bath in which a fat- 
liquored chrome-tanned skin was being dyed, the vitriol would 
decompose the soap with which the skin had been fat-liquored, 
separating the fatty acids of the soap, which, being of a greasy 
nature, would prevent the dye working on, patchy dyeing 
being the result. The greasiness would also seriously interfere 
with the finishing process. After several months' research with 
a view to find some material that would take the place of sul- 
phuric acid and yet not have any action on the fat-liquor, I 
found that if chrome leather was dyed with the acid colors in a 
bath to which a small quantity of sodium or potassium bisul- 
phate had been added, it was quite practicable to produce 
shades twice as full as when no such addition of sodium or 
potassium bisulphate had been made. 

" When the skins have been thoroughly soaked back in warm 
water, after fat-liquoring and drying out, they are ready for 
dyeing, this being best effected in a drum fitted with steam 
pipes ; neither the paddle nor the tray are suitable without 
some appliance for keeping the dye bath hot. The dyeing is 
best carried out at a temperature of 140 degrees Fahr. 

" The manipulation is as follows : The dye is carefully 
weighed out into a small wooden tub, and dissolved by pour- 
ing upon it about 200 times its weight of boiling water, stirring 
briskly all the time until the dye has entirely gone into solu- 
tion ; and now bisulphate of soda, equal in weight to the 
weight of the d)'estuff, is dissolved in a sufificient quantity of 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 37 1 

hot water in a separate vessel. Half of the concentrated solu- 
tion is now added, together with the bisulphate of soda solution, 
to a sufificient quantity of water at 140 degrees Fahr. in the 
drum to cover the skins; the goods are entered and the drum 
is started. After running the goods in this dye bath for fifteen 
minutes, the remainder of the dye solution is added, and the 
running continued for at least thirty minutes longer, or until 
the goods have attained the depth of shade required. The 
quantities of dyestufif and bisulphate of soda necessary for each 
dozen skins would be eight to ten ounces of the former, accord- 
ing to the desired depth of shade, and, as stated, an equal 
quantity of the latter. After dyeing, the skins are washed in 
warm water, set out, lightly rubbed over the grain with glycer- 
ine, and dried out strained on boards." 

DECREASING SKINS AND LEATHER. 

In the coloring and finishing of some kinds of leather, con- 
siderable trouble is encountered by the dyer and finisher in 
trying to get clear and uniform colors and a clear, bright finish, 
owing to the grease in the leather. Sheepskins especially are 
full of natural grease that is difficult to get rid of. In some in- 
stances, too, the leather, although not naturally greasy, contains 
so much oil and fat-liquor that satisfactory coloring and finish- 
ing are almost impossible. Chrome-tanned leather intended 
for a patent or enameled finish must be free from grease before 
the finish can be put on. 

Much of the natural grease in sheepskins can be removed by 
pressing previous to tanning, in a hydraulic press, after they 
have been limed and also while they are in a pickled condition. 
The pressure applied is v^ery great, and large quantities of 
grease are removed in this way. Pressing before tanning is 
always advisable, and yet this method is not always as efifectual 
as might be desired. Treatment with naphtha in liquid or 
gaseous form is often resorted to. Other methods are some- 
times used, but while they remove the grease they also injure 
the skins. 



372 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

To remove the animal grease from pickled sheepskins they 
should be wrung or pressed, then drummed in salt water and 
then treated in a bath of whiting and salt, which removes some 
grease and the acid used in pickling. Use five pounds of salt 
and two pounds of bolted whiting in water at 90 degrees Fahr. 
for one hundred pounds of stock. Drum the skins in this 
liquor one-half hour, let them stand one-half hour, then wash 
them in two baths of clean, warm salt water to remove all the 
whiting. Salt must always be used in washing to keep the skins 
from swelling. 

If a paddle-vat is employed, use ten pounds of whiting, one 
pound of common salt and one pound of sal soda for each four 
hundred gallons of warm water in the vat. After the skins are 
in, run the paddle thirty minutes, then let them remain in the 
bath one hour, run the paddle again for fifteen minutes, then 
wash them in two saltwater baths before tanning them. While 
this treatment is effective it should not be used on skins intended 
to be tanned with tanolin or other one-bath material. For such 
stock use a drench of sour bran and salt. It not infrequently 
happens that after leather is finished the oil and grease in it 
come out upon the surface in the form of white grease spots- 
that spoil the appearance and injure the finish. And when 
impure or low-grade oil is used quantities of gummy or resinous 
matter are deposited in the skins, and these have a detrimental 
effect upon the quality of the leather. Leather must be free from 
uncombined oil and grease, and have a clean, dry grain before 
a bright finish can be obtained. Treating greasy leather with 
lactic acid by drumming in a dilute solution of it before color- 
ing it, and then applying a solution of the acid to the grain be- 
fore putting on any seasoning, help in overcoming greasy grain 
and in getting a clear and bright finish. Then there is the 
method of treating leather with naphtha by which every par- 
ticle of oil and fat is removed. It is used after the skins have 
been dried and before they are finished. For degreasing 
tanned sheep and goat skins and patent leather naphtha is the 
only satisfactory process. The work should be done in a 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 373 

building apart from the main factory, and no fire or light should 
be allowed near the naphtha vats. 

The skins are immersed in a bath of naphtha, preferably the 
ordinary commercial article, in a tank or closed vessel or drum 
which either revolves or in which they can be stirred or other- 
wise agitated so as to insure rapid and thorough permeation of 
the naphtha. By processing the greasy leather in the naphtha 
the liquid becomes so thoroughly saturated with the oily 
matter extracted that it will take up no more. If one bath is 
not sufficient to extract all the grease, the skins are removed to 
another and cleaner bath and drenched therein as in the first 
bath. They may be subjected to a fresh supply of naphtha 
again and again until the liquid in which they are last placed 
remains pure, and so far unafTected thereby as not to show the 
least trace of oil or grease. 

The action of the naphtha is quite harmless, and, if the leather 
was fat-liquored and oiled well, no strength will be lost through 
the treatment. A naphtha plant can be operated economically, 
but if its use is not practicable the leather can be degreased by 
soaking it in the fluid for several hours and then pressing out 
the naphtha with a slicker. On a small scale the work can be 
done by throwing the skins loosely and separately into the 
naphtha in a tank or vessel of sufficient size, and stirring them 
about for an hour or two, the time depending on their thickness 
and condition. Light skins show a difference after they have 
been in the liquid a half hour. When they seem sufficiently 
degreased they should be taken from the naphtha, pressed out 
with a slicker, and then hung up until the naphtha is entirely 
evaporated. 

When an unsuitable oil has been used upon the skins, it is 
sometimes necessary to purify them from the gummy matters 
that have resisted the action of the naphtha. In such cases a 
drenching with alcohol, wood-spirit, ammonia or some other 
solvent is required. After this treatment the leather is dried 
and finished in the usual way, and when it is glazed it is unus- 
ually bright and clear, and the fibers are tough, soft and strong. 



374 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

The Leather Trades Review says : " Leather is degreased by 
treatment with volatile solvents, which have the power of dis- 
solving the contained grease. The common method of de- 
greasing is to hang the goods in a closed chamber, into which, 
the vapor of light petroleum ether or benzine is allowed to 
enter, the benzine or petroleum ether completely dissolving the 
grease. The solvent condenses on the leather, and a liquid 
then exudes which flows to the bottom of the chamber and is 
run away into a distilling plant placed in close proximity, by 
which the solvent is recovered, to again, in the form of vapor,, 
pass into the chamber. In this way the goods are subjected to 
a continuous current of the solvent, and they are allowed to 
hang in the chamber until every particle of grease has been 
extracted. 

" Another form of degreasing plant is one in which the goods 
are suspended in a liquid solvent in a closed chamber, closed 
in order to preclude evaporation, the goods being allowed to 
remain in the solution until degreased, grease and solvent be- 
ing afterwards separated by distillation. In Australia and New 
Zealand it is a common practice to simply suspend the goods 
in an open vat containing benzine until degreased, the resulting 
liquid mixture of grease and benzine being used over and over 
again until so greasy that it will no longer degrease ; it is then 
run away and the vat supplied with fresh solvent. This last 
method is most wasteful, for it means the loss of both solvent 
and grease." 

THE DECREASING OF SHEEPSKIN. 

In tanneries, writes W. Eitner in " Der Gerber," the grease 
of sheepskins is often extracted by pressing the skins out of 
warm water ; in American works it is extracted mainly by 
hydraulic pressure, and the skins are often used for colored 
leather afterward. Sheepskin fat is soluble in hot alcohol, ether, 
chloroform, petroleum ether, commercialbenzoline and naphtha ; 
all of these mediums are used for degreasing mostly tanned 
leather, for which purpose a proper apparatus is necessary. 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 375 

Both mechanical and extractive methods are in use at several 
works, the former being the more popular as being the cheaper 
plan. This method has the disadvantage of only partially de- 
greasing the skins, it being impossible to do so completely by 
pressing, although if the proportion of fat is not very great the 
object is sufficiently accomplished. 

Complete degreasing can be effected by extraction, but re- 
quires plenty of material and an expensive plant. In more 
recent times both methods are combined in Argentina. In 
Buenos Ayres, where 20,000 sheep are slaughtered daily for 
export in frozen condition, a French company takes the skins 
in hand. They are dewooled by sweating, and the pelts go 
partly to local tanneries and are partly air-dried and exported 
to North America. The Argentine sheep belong to the fine 
wooled class and are very fat, some specimens possessing up 
to as much as 30 per cent, per pelt. They have therefore to 
be degreased, and owing to this high proportion of fat the pro- 
cess has to be efTected partly in the pelt, as the subsequent tan- 
ning would be very difficult. 

The method of degreasing followed out in Buenos Ayres is as 
follows : The pelts, dewooled by sweating, are put into the de- 
greasing apparatus, which consists of a metal drum coated with 
zinc, and which can be hermetically closed. To the pelts, 
which are still in a wet condition, the degreasing liquor is added. 
This consists of benzoline and methyl alcohol. The latter is 
used because the pelts are wet, and the benzoline, which does 
not mix with water, would not penetrate the skin and neutralize 
the grease. The alcohol is the medium to assist in mixing the 
water and benzoline, and ensures the desired effect on the wet 
pelt. 

After the pelts have been in the drum for an hour or an hour 
and a half, they are taken out and pressed quickly ; by this 
process most of the grease comes away in liquid form. The 
mass pressed out can by distillation be reworked, and the de- 
greasing materials recovered with a loss of about thirty per cent. 
The skins are then soaked in water and thrown into the lime 



376 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

pits and worked in the usual manner, the resulting leather being" 
of good quality and free from grease. For ordinary purposes 
the above method could be modified as follows: The dewooled 
skins, after soaking and liming, may be reduced in the paddle 
vat by lukewarm water and thoroughly stretched on the Vaughn 
machine, and after this put into the extraction apparatus. This 
operation is succeded by pressing and a treatment in a drench 
or bate. If the skins are not too greasy a second putting 
through the machine would be an improvement. 

After tanned skins have been degreased, it is generally neces- 
sary to retan them, as the tannage of greasy skins comes out 
easily. In the backs and necks of sheepskins, hollow places 
are often found which have been full of fat but after degreasing 
form a very wrinkled grain. 

Formerly sheepskin-fat was thought to be much the same as 
other animal grease, and that it was composed of fatty acids 
and glycerine ; but this supposition is incorrect, as it is a chol- 
esterin fat, and as regards composition, possesses many of the 
characteristics of wool- grease, the latter being semi-fluid while 
that extracted from tanned skins is liquid, and forms no emul- 
sion with water, a fact which prevents any emulsifying methods 
from being used in degreasing. Sheepskin-fat forms no lime 
soap in the lime pits, which is very favorable for tanning, as it 
could not be got out even by prolonged mechanical work, and 
it would in consequence be very bad for tanners of sheep and 
lamb skins, as every skin contains this grease. Some sorts, of 
course, contain much more than others, and as much as forty 
per cent, of the gross weight may be found in some classes. 
The fact of the fat being in a liquid form favors mechanical de- 
greasing of sheepskins and, in this state yields more readily to 
this treatment than a more solid fat. 

Retanning Degreased Sheepskins. — Very greasy skins absorb 
the tanning material only with difficulty and incompletely. The 
most greasy portions remain almost untanned. After the grease 
is removed such portions of the skins are hard and other por- 
tions that were well tanned are loose and spongy. For these 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 377 

reasons skins that have been degreased after tanning must be 
retanned and a rich tannage is necessary. This applies to vege- 
table-tanned stock. The best material for retanning is one that 
will tan mildly without making the leather loose and spongy 
and at the same time give a nice light color. Sumac is un- 
doubtedly the most suitable material for the purpose. The re- 
tanning is best accomplished in a drum, as in this manner the 
greatest amount of tannin is absorbed. The liquor may be 
made 2 to 3 degrees Baume. strong, and the skins should be 
run in the drum two or three hours according to their weight, 
then dried and finished. 

PIGSKIN LEATHER. 

Pigskins have from time immemorial been used for many 
purposes; at the present time they are more extensively em- 
ployed than ever. When properly tanned they are as durable 
as goatskins, as pliable as calfskins, and present a peculiarly 
attractive appearance. They are finished in russet and colors 
and are used for innersoling, saddles, traveling bags, pocket- 
books, belts, jewelry cases, bindings of books, sporting goods, 
shoes, slippers, suspenders, leggings, military equipments, 
trusses, wall decorations, screens, and for upholstering, carriage 
and automobile trimmings. 

Sheepskins and cowhides are embossed so as to resemble 
pigskin in appearance ; but no imitation possesses the peculiar 
qualities of the genuine article. Public interest in pig leather 
has steadily increased and it is now very popular. A few prac- 
tical ways to tan pigskins will here be described. 

Washing and Degreasing. — Pigskins contain a great deal of 
grease that should be gotten rid of before they are limed, or the 
leather will be greasy and hard. After they have been scraped 
out dry before soaking, they are washed in a warm solution of 
sal soda. Put about five pounds of sal soda into a barrel of 
water heated to 95 degrees Fahr. Put the skins, one at a time, 
into this water, leave therein long enough to get soaked through 
and then put them on the beam and strike them out thoroughly 



378 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

with a dull knife, bearing on hard and forcing out as much of 
the grease as possible. This may be done two or three times ; 
the skins are then rinsed ofif in the warm water and soaked for 
some hours in cold water before unhairing and liming. A great 
deal of grease can be forced out of them by passing them 
through sal soda solution and then working them out over a 
beam. They are next soaked and fleshed and are then in con- 
dition to be unhaired. 

Unhairing. — Run seven hundred gallons of water into a paddle 
vat, and add to it one hundred pounds of patented depilatory 
crystals previously dissolved in hot water. Put a pack of skins 
into this liquor and leave them therein until the hair is dissolved, 
when they are ready to be limed. Sulphide of sodium may be 
used in this process either in a vat or in a drum. One pound 
should be used for every seven gallons of water. The solution 
dissolves the hair and swells the skins. The next process is 
liming. 

Liming. — Slake one hundred pounds of lime and add the 
solution to seven hundred gallons of water. Put the unhaired 
skins into this liquor and turn them in it for two days or longer 
according to their thickness and condition. Then wash them 
and scrape the flesh side again. Some of the hairs that may 
be broken on the grain should be removed from the flesh and 
at the same time much of the remaining grease will come out. 
The skins are then in condition to be bated. 

Bating. — Prepare a paddle vat with water warmed to 120 
degrees Fahr. Put into the water two pailfuls of dry bran and 
allow to stand over night. In the morning bring the tempera- 
ture up to 95 degrees Fahr., and add one pint of lactic acid to 
the bran liquor. Throw a suitable number of skins into the 
liquor and then add another pint of lactic acid. Run the paddle 
from three to five hours, then take the skins out and wash them 
well. They should be thoroughly worked out of the bate or 
drench and all lime and dissolved grease should be forced out. 
Work them over a beam with a union worker and they are then 
ready for the scudding table. Use a hand-glass and set with 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 379- 

dull, smooth edges as the grain is easily damaged. After work- 
.ing out the grain, the skins should be rinsed in warm water and 
then put into the tan liquor. 

Tanning. — Quebracho extract makes a good tannage. Pre- 
pare a liquor by adding enough dissolved extract to seven hun- 
dred gallons of water in a paddle to make a four degrees bark- 
ometer liquor. To this liquor add ten pounds of alum and 
twenty-five pounds of salt dissolved in hot water. Plunge the 
liquor until it is thoroughly mixed. Start the wheel, throw in 
the skins and turn them for thirty-six hours or longer, which 
strikes them a light oak color and they may then be placed in 
the second bath. This should consist of clear quebracho liquor. 
Add enough dissolved extract to the water in the paddle vat to 
make a six degree barkometer liquor, leaving out alum and salt. 
Turn the skins thirty-six hours, then strengthen the liquor to 
ten degrees barkometer and leave them in the liquor for two 
days which completes the tanning. 

A mixture of quebracho and hemlock extracts may be used ; 
also a mixture of hemlock and oak extracts. 

When the skins are tanned, pass them into a sumac liquor,, 
oil them with neatsfoot oil on the grain and hang them up to 
dry or tack them on frames. After staking and boarding, they 
are ready for any finish. They can be bleached if lighter color 
is wanted, or colored any shade, or black. Quebracho tan 
makes a fine, natural grain, free from spew, and firm, strong 
leather. For bag leather hemlock extract is a good tannage, 
also hemlock and quebracho. The skins are started in a weak 
liquor which is strengthened twice a day until they are struck 
through, which takes about eight days. After tanning, they 
may be bleached like skirting leather and then drummed in a 
sumac bath. Next wash them with clean water, slick them 
out, give them a little oil and hang them up to dry. After 
drying, dampen and shave those that need to be shaved and 
then apply a coat of fat-liquor. Make the fat-liquor of soap,^ 
oil and degras in the same manner as for calfskins, giving 
the leather about half as much fat-Hquor as calfskins. Dry the 



38o PRACTICAL TANNING. 

leather and store it away for a while to mellow. Then, if it is 
to be colored, dampen it and clean the grain with borax and 
sulphuric acid. To do this, wash the leather in a drum in a 
warm solution of borax for fifteen minutes. Drain the solution 
out of the drum and run the skins in a solution of sulphuric 
acid, made by adding enough acid to water to make a solution 
sharp enough to bite the tongue. Drum them in this solution, 
then wash them and run them in sumac again. After being 
rinsed they are in condition to be colored. When they are 
colored, give them a light coat of cod oil and dry them. Stak- 
ing, boarding and glazing complete the process. Pigskins for 
bag leather should be quite firm and solid. If the grain is 
greasy a drumming in a lactic acid solution or in borax or soda 
previous to coloring clears the grain so that even coloring be- 
comes more possible. 

Pigskins are much used in plain russet finish. For this they 
need to be bleached according to the instructions given for 
bleaching russet leather. 

Hemlock and quebracho extracts have been found a very 
satisfactory combination for tanning pigskins, resulting in tough, 
firm yet pliable leather that needs little or no bleaching and 
that can be easily colored. 

For innersoling the skins are oiled with a combination of fish 
and mineral oils, and finished by rolling undei the rolling 
machine. 

Tanning with Stimac, Oak Bark and Alum. — A soft, light- 
colored pigskin can be secured by tanning in the following 
manner: 

Pickle the skins with sulphuric acid and salt to bleach them, 
next remove the acid in a drench of whiting and salt and then 
wash them in two baths of warm salt water. To make the tan 
liquor dissolve in six gallons of water, six pounds of alum, three 
pounds of Glauber's salt, four pounds of common salt. In 
another tub boil in five gallons of water, five pounds of ground 
sumac, three pounds of oak bark and one pound of ground nut- 
galls. Mix the two solutions, then strain while the mixture is 
hot, and add to it four ounces of sulphuric acid. 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 38 1 

The liquor should be used lukewarm; and the skins should 
be drummed in it two or three hours, then allowed to drain 
twenty-four hours. Tanning can also be done in a paddle vat. 

After draining, the skins should be struck out on both sides 
and oiled quite heavily with neatsfoot oil, and dried. As they 
dry they should be worked and staked so that when dry the 
leather is soft and pliable. They can be then colored any shade 
or left in the natural color of the tan. The leather is quite 
waterproof and durable. 

Oak bark is an especially good tannage for pigskins ; chest- 
nut oak extract also. 

TreaUnent with Sumac after Tanning. — Pigskins are im- 
proved by a bath of sumac after being tanned with quebracho 
or other tannage. A paddle vat is used. The liquor is pre- 
pared by adding to water at 125 degrees Fahr. twenty- five 
pounds of best Sicily sumac, cooling the liquor down to 90 
degrees Fahr. before putting the skins in. The latter may be 
turned in the liquor several hours, or two or three hours, and 
then left in over night, then drained, oiled and dried. 

White Pigskins. — For some purposes white pigskins are 
used. Thorough work in the beamhouse is the basis of such 
leather. Not only must the skins be soaked in sal soda water 
and worked over the beam to get rid of as much grease as pos- 
sible, but they should also be quite heavily limed and bated, 
and then worked out again so as to be as clean as possible be- 
fore the process of tanning is begun. If they are not too full 
of holes pickling and tanning can be done most advantageously 
in a drum. To pickle one hundred pounds of them use one 
pound of sulphuric acid, fifteen pounds of salt and fifteen gal- 
lons of water. Run them in this liquor one hour, then place 
them over a horse to drain at least twelve hours before tanning 
them. 

Prepare the tan liquor by boiling twelve pounds of sulphate 
of alumina in ten gallons of water. In a pail dissolve by boil- 
ing in one gallon of water one and one-half pounds of bicarbon- 
ate of soda. Pour the soda solution slowly and with constant 



382 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

stirring into the alumina solution. Care must be taken to pour 
the soda solution in slowly, for if it is added too fast the tan 
will be spoiled. The mixture should be cold when it is used. 

Tanning is done as follows : Put the pickled skins into a 
drum together with ten gallons of water in which one pound of 
Glauber's salt and three pounds of common salt have been dis- 
solved, these quantities being used for one hundred pounds of 
skins. Run them in this solution twenty minutes, then stop the 
drum and drain off the liquor. Then put the plug back and 
throw ten gallons of water at 75 degrees Fahr., and four pounds 
of salt into the drum, which should then be started and run 
fifteen minutes. 

At the end of the fifteen minutes pour one-half of the alumina 
and soda solution into the drum and drum three hours. Then 
put the skins over a horse until the next day and then hang 
them up to dry. When dry, put them back into the drum 
together with eight gallons of water and drum ten minutes. 
Then add the other half of the alumina and soda liquor and run 
the skins in it for three hours. After they have drained twenty- 
four hours, hang them up to dry. It is advisable to keep them 
in the dry condition some time before finishing them. 

When it is desired to fat-liquor and finish them, soften them 
with warm water and put them into the drum together with a 
solution of acid fat-liquor or sulphonated castor oil, and run 
them in it forty minutes. Seven or eight pounds of the soluble 
oil should be dissolved in eight gallons of water at 95 degrees 
Fahr. for one hundred pounds of dry skins. After the latter 
have absorbed the fat-liquor let them drain over night ; then 
strike them out and apply a coat of glycerine and water into 
which French chalk has been stirred. Give the grain a liberal 
coat of this dressing and then hang the skins up to dry. 

Dampening, staking and tacking on boards complete the pro- 
cess and make the skins ready for use. 

If they are not fully tanned they can be dampened and re- 
tanned with alumina and soda ; and if they are not sufficiently 
soft they can be given more fat-liquor. Nice white leather re- 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 383 

•suits from the use of this process, provided the beamhouse work 
is done as it should be. 

TREATMENT OF DRY HIDES AND SKINS. 

No other class of hides and skins with which tanners have to 
deal requires more thorough treatment in the preliminary pro- 
cess than those that are received in dry condition. Having 
been dried in the raw state, they are dry and hard ; and before 
they can be worked through any process they must be brought 
back to the natural condition of softness, and cleansed from 
dirt, blood and salt. As they are almost waterproof and very 
thick and hard, they are softened with considerable difificulty. 
Before they become thoroughly dry, putrefaction often sets in, 
which, although it may not be noticed in the dry hide, will be- 
come apparent during the soaking process. Then every spot 
that was not perfectly cured, or that was tainted before drying 
will appear either by the hair coming off, the grain peeling, or 
by portions of the hide rotting away. Even when the hides are 
received in good condition, the thinner portions may decom- 
pose in the water before the thicker portions become thoroughly 
softened. Owing to the difficulties encountered in soaking dry 
hides, some tanners neglect them, although when received in 
good condition and treated properly they make nice leather. 

To place the hides in clean water, with nothing to hasten the 
soaking, results in injury to the stock, since the thin portions 
along the sides and in the flanks become damaged before the 
thick portions are softened. Prolonged soaking is a waste of 
time and causes the loss of gelatine, which results in loose 
leather. The grain is very apt to be injured by what is known 
as piited grain which spoils the hides for grain-finished leather. 
In order, therefore, to hasten the process and to bring the hides 
through in good shape, it is necessary to add to the water some 
solution that will assist in accomplishing these results. Borax, 
Wyandotte soda and sulphide of sodium are the best materials 
•for this purpose. When borax is used, five pounds of it, dis- 
solved in hot water, are enough for one thousand gallons of 



384 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

water. The solution should be poured into the soak water and 
thoroughly plunged before the hides are put in. Wyandotte 
soda is also good to help the soaking of both green and dry 
hides. 

Sulphide of sodium is undoubtedly the best softener. Five 
pounds of it will prepare one thousand gallons of water although 
more or less may be used as the water and hides seem to re- 
quire. If the water is hard twelve ounces of it may be used for 
each one hundred gallons of water. Soak dry hides in the pre- 
pared water twenty-four hours, then take them out and run them 
in a dry mill one-half hour, after which let them lie in a pile from 
twelve to twenty-four hours. Then put them back in the same 
water they were taken out of, and soak them twenty four hours 
longer; next haul them out and mill them again one-half hour, 
then flesh them. After fleshing, put them into clean cold water 
for twelve hours ; then put them into lime or sulphide of sodium 
liquor. 

The milling serves to shake the hides up and to soften the 
spots that resist the penetration of the water. Twenty- five 
pounds of sulphide of sodium may be used to each hundred 
heavy dry hides. Hides cured with arsenic should be worked 
through arsenic limes ; those dried in the sun should be treated 
with a sulphide of sodium process to get the best results. 

Decay of hides can be prevented by using the articles men- 
tioned and by keeping the soak vats clean by frequently chang- 
ing the water. Soaks in which previous packs containing refuse 
have been softened, soften dry hides in a short time, but the 
putrefactive element is stronger in such soaks than in new ones; 
and the latter are therefore the safest, and the least liable to 
cause injury to the grain. 

The hides should not be crowded in the soaks but given 
plenty of room. It is good practice to hang them in the water. 
No exact rule can be given as to the length of time necessary 
to soften them as some soften more readily than others, and the 
temperature and condition of the water are determining factors. 
Soaking is assisted by warming the water to from 80 to 85 de- 
grees Fahr. before putting the hides into it. 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 385 

A good method to follow is to soak dry-salted hides until 
they are about half as soft as they should be ; then to remove 
them, split them from head to tail, put them into an ordinary 
drum together with water and run them in it for thirty minutes. 
They may then be soaked for another day or two and drummed 
again if they seem to require it. Care must be taken that they 
are not milled until they are soft enough as the bending and 
pounding may injure them. Dry-salted hides require to be not 
only softened but also to have the salt that is dried in them dis- 
solved and washed out. After the second milling, let them 
soak in clean, cold water from twelve to twenty-four hours be- 
fore putting them into lime. 

Dry hides are most satisfactorily prepared for tanning with 
sulphide of sodium unless they are intended for lace leather, 
when they should be unhaired with lime and arsenic, which 
make flatter leather than lime and sulphide of sodium. 

The office of any material that is used to remove the hair is 
to swell and distend the fibers, thus loosening the hair roots 
and enabling the tanner to remove the hair, then to dissolve the 
perishable matter so that it can be removed before the hides are 
tanned. Sulphide of sodium, when used upon dry hides in con- 
junction with lime, loosens and splits ofTthe fibers and freshens up 
the grain more efficiently than lime alone does. A satisfactory 
process is carried out in the following manner: Boil a quan- 
tity of sulphide of sodium, say two hundred pounds, in a barrel 
or tub. Let the solution get cold and then use only the clear 
liquor and discard the sediment. Add enough of the dissolved 
sulphide to water in a vat to make a six degree barkometer 
liquor. Put the hides in and allow them to remain twenty-four 
hours, then haul them out. Plunge the liquor up and put the 
hides back and keep them in twenty-four hours and then haul 
them out. After plunging the liquor again, put the hides back 
and keep them in the liquor twenty-four hours longer. Take 
them out, put them into a wash-mill with running water and 
wash them for thirty minutes to wash off the hair, and then 
put them into lime liquor. Slake two pecks of lime for each 
25 



386 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

hundred sides and put it into water in a suitable vat. Allow 
the sides to remain in this liquor two or three days, handling 
them two or three times during this time- They are then ready 
to be washed in cold water for fifteen minutes and can then be 
either split, cr bated whole and split out of pickle. Dry hides 
come through this process full and plump and with a fine, strong 
grain. 

Skins for some kinds of leather can also be treated in this 
same manner. Bating should be done with sour sugar and 
lactic acid or with a manure bate in order to get a soft, smooth 
grain. Dry skins, because of their thinness, are more easily 
softened than hides. Upon light skins, such as goat, calf and 
kangaroo, lime and arsenic produce the best results. But upon 
hair skcepskins sulphide of sodium is used as it makes them 
tougher and plumper than lime. Dry woolskins also are most 
suitably prepared with sulphide of sodium. The process is 
along these lines: After the skins are soaked, they are fleshed, 
and then painted with a solution of sulphide or depilatory crys- 
tals. After having been painted, they are folded from neck to 
butt, hair or wool side out, and placed in piles until the next 
day when the hair or wool can be easily rubbed off. After 
this has been done, they are placed in a drum with a weak 
solution of sulphide of sodium and drummed in it for two 
hours. They are left in the liquor over night ; and the next 
morning are washed in warm water to rid them of the hair now 
reduced to a slimy mass. They are then trimmed and fleshed 
and washed in a weak solution of bicarbonate of soda to rid 
them of the sulphide. When thoroughly washed, they are 
ready for the bate. Instead of using a clear solution of sul- 
phide of sodium, a mixture of lime and sulphide may be used, 
or the skins may be placed in a weak lime liquor for two days 
after being washed from the sulphide. The use of lime in 
addition to sulphide of sodium makes soft leather that remains 
soft after it is finished, while leather upon which no lime is used 
has a tendency to become somewhat hard after it is finished 
awhile. No matter how dry and withered the skins may be, 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 387 

this treatment brings them out as soft and fresh as green stock. 
Tuentyfive pounds of sulphide is a sufificient quantity for 
twenty dozen skins. It should be dissolved by boiling in a 
barrel ; the sediment is thrown away and the clear solution 
reduced in strength and increased in quantity by the addition 
of forty or fifty gallons of water. The process can also be 
■carried out in a paddle vat, the skins being left in the liquor 
two or three days. The strength of the sulphide liquor in a 
paddle vat should be much less than in a drum, say one or one 
and a half degrees Baumc scale. Three pounds of bicarbonate 
of soda dissolved in twelve gallons of lukewarm water for one 
hundred pounds of skins washes out the sulphide more effec- 
tively than clear water. 

Goatskins for firm leather may be prepared for tanning in 
this wa}-, but for soft leather^ such as shoe and glove stock, 
lime and arsenic followed by manure bating is the preferred 
process. 

Dry hides for sole leather should be thoroughly soaked and 
then unhaired as promptly as possible and in such a manner 
as not to remove substance nor afTect the weight of the leather. 
The most progressive tanners use fairly strong limes and reel 
the hides from one lime to another, taking care to plunge the 
lime before putting them in. Sulphide of sodium may be 
mixed with the lime and the hair loosened in a few days, which 
results in the tanner getting good, heavy and solid leather. 
After the hides are limed two or three days, they should be 
put into water for several hours, then passed along into the 
next process. The essential qualities of sole leather are weight 
and solidity. These are secured by short quick liming and 
unhairing. 

When removed from the warm water, the hides are worked 
over the beam and again put into clean water to further cleanse 
them from the lime and dirt. The grain is made bright and 
clean by this treatment. 

The results obtained on dry hides for heavy leather from the 
use of sulphide of sodium are greater weight, finer grain, ex- 



388 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

ceeding toughness aiid strength, and less labor and anxiety. 
When no value is placed upon the hair, the hides can be painted 
upon the hair side with a solution of sulphide of sodium or with 
a mixture of sulphide and lime. They are then folded up sep- 
arately with the hair on the inside and left until the hair can be 
easily removed, after which they may be washed and unhaired^ 
and then limed for a day or two. 

All dry hides that are to be split after unhairing can be 
made plump and the fibers swollen in a weak solution of sulphide 
of sodium, from one to three ounces being used for each hide^ 
accordmg to size; and a small quantity of lime may be added. 
A hard, firm body and fine grain result, but where softness is 
essential it is necessary to use more lime, and to lime the hides 
a little longer. Unless they are thoroughly washed to neutra- 
lize the sulphide, spots are apt to appear on the grain when 
they arc put into vegetable tanning liquors. Iron in the sul- 
phide also causes dark green spots on the grain. A solution 
of sulphide should not be used until it has stood several hours 
and become clarified by the sediment settling to the bottom of 
the vessel. The clear liquor only should be used. The sedi- 
ment containing the iron, which causes the spots, should be 
thrown away. 

Dry hides should always be pickled with sulphuric acid and 
salt after bating and before tanning. 

TITANIUM MORDANTS ON CHROME AND VEGETABLE 
TANNED LEATHERS. 

The utilization of the so-called " rare metals " for industrial 
purposes has made great advances during the last few years. 
Vanadium, selenium, tungsten, titanium, etc., are common in 
the manufacture of special classes of steels, tungsten in incan- 
descent electric lamps, certain still rarer metallic oxides in the 
gas mantles ; chromium is used in tanning in enormously in- 
creasing quantities. 

Compounds of antimony are very useful as mordants and are 
used extensively. Some of these and other little used metals 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 389 

are found on investigation to possess properties which are of 
the greatest assistance in industrial processes, and one of the 
most noteworthy is titanium. 

This metal is widely distributed over the earth's surface. In 
nature, however, it never occurs as metal, but as the oxide 
TiOj, or combined with other compounds, notably iron oxide. 
It is very difificult to remov'e the impurities, which in a measure 
accounts for its being classed as a rare metal, and it is even 
more difificult to convert it into its salts so as to render it avail- 
able for use in industrial processes. The salts are, however, 
now made on a commercial scale in this country and are being 
made use of to a considerable extent. The trade of dyeing 
and staining leather has begun to appreciate the help of this 
new element in the assistance its salts give in many processes 
of coloring and in mordanting colors and blacks. 

As has previously been said, titanium is extremely difficult 
to reduce from its ores. Its name implies that it is a very Titan 
in holding to its ore form. It cannot be reduced, as the chem- 
ists say, by any ordinary means as the other metals. But when 
by heroic chemical methods it is reduced from its ores and con- 
verted into titanium salts, and when organic fibers, such as 
leather, and organic substances such as tannin and organic 
coloring matters, are treated with solutions of these titanium 
salts, the above-mentioned characteristic of holding on mani- 
fests itself. It combines with the fiber and with the tannin as 
well as with the coloring matter with the same titanic grip. 
And this grip is also rapid as will be shown. The results are 
extremely fast and stable colors, fast to light, washing, soap- 
ing, rubbing, etc. For the leather dyer the salt most suitable 
to use is the double salt, titanium-potassium oxalate, which is 
put on the market in the form of fine white crystals easily 
soluble in water. These crystals do not alter on keeping and 
are pure salts, i. e., they contain no impurities of any kind, not 
a trace of iron or other foreign substances. They dissolve in 
water to a clear, colorless solution. Being a pure chemical salt 
there are no second grades. 



390 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

In comparison with other mordants the amounts of actual 
titanium salt required are very small indeed, no addition of 
strong acid, such as sulphuric acid is necessary, and after the 
titanium oxide has combined with the material treated the very 
small amount of oxalic acid freed from the double salt is mainly 
in the bath and the rest is easily washed out if necessary. 

The solutions are applied in the drum, paddle, tray or by 
brushing on. Acid dyes may be used in the same bath. Re- 
tanning with sumac, quebracho, gambier, bark extract, etc., 
may be done in the same bath with the titanium mordant. 
The titanium goes on very evenly and very rapidly, ten min- 
utes in the drum being ample time. If the mordant bath has 
not been exhausted, which seldom is the case, a washing^ 
should be given before applying basic colors. Usually the 
mordant is all taken up by the leather, and in such case, after 
running ofT the liquor, basic colors run in without washing give 
most excellent results. Time is saved all along the line. 

When titanium salts are applied to vegetable- tanned leather 
or to a chrome leather lightly treated with some tannin, or to a 
co^mbination chrome leather, the titanium unites with the tannin 
of the leather to form a yellowish brown titanium tannate,. 
which combines with the fiber of the leather and which is fast 
and stable and brings up subsequent colors in a, remarkable 
way. 

This yellowish-brown color of titanium tannate is a fortunate 
thing for the leather dyer, the similar antimony salt being 
colorless, and therefore the leather, in addition to being mor- 
danted with the better mordant in preparation for the subse- 
quent dyeing, is already, without any dye, given the yellow 
base necessary when all shades except lilac, gray and purple 
tones, are wanted. 

All shades of yellow, tan, brown, green, red, maroon and of 
dark blue are thus ready for dyeing to shade. 

The saving in cost by removing the necessity of using any 
Philadelphia yellow is easily seen, the saving of time is also 
noticed. One-half per cent, of the weight of the leather is 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 39 1 

plenty to give a yellow mordant base on which both acid and 
basic colors dye freely and evenly and rapidly. The peculiar 
life of this base brings up the colors finely and fuU rich tones 
are obtained. The shade of yellow-brown produced varies with 
the kind of tannin in the leather, sumac usually giving the more 
yellowish shade. Young fustic with titanium gives a light tan. 
Gambier and fustic red sha.de give browner tans with titanium. 

Example: — For one hundred pounds dry vegetable-tanned 
goat, sheep, calf skin, etc. — Drum with solution of 8 ounces 
titanium-potassium oxalate in warm water ten minutes. This 
gives yellow-brown base. Run in usual acid dye solution to 
bring to shade wanted. Wash and fat-liquor. 

If basic dyes are to be used, drum ten minutes with the titan- 
ium solution, run off the liquor, wash the skins, and then run 
in the usual basic dye solution to shade. Wash and fat-liquor 
the skins. 

The statements of Procter and of Lamb are borne out by the 
experience of dyers every day. Procter says that " titanium 
salts with coal-tar colors for dyeing chrome leather" have 
" many advantages over the ordinary mordants, the colors pro- 
duced being faster to light, rubbing, fuller in shade and with 
much less tendency to ' grinning.' " The colors for bag, hat 
and bookbinders' leathers, as well as the chrome light tan colors 
for glove and shoe uppers, are produced far cheaper, better and 
quicker by using the small amount of titanium-potassium oxa- 
late required than by any other method. 

Example: — For one hundred pounds of wet chrome-tanned 
goat, sJieep, calf skins, etc. — Neutralize the skins with borax or 
soda if necessary and wash well. Treat lightly with some 
tannin (sumac) in drum as usual. Run in solution of 4 ounces 
of titanium salt in hot water and drum 10 minutes. Then run 
in the usual acid dye to shade, or wash and run in basic dye to 
shade as usual. Wash and fat-liquor. 

For Black Leathers with Logwood. — The same property 
which makes titanium hang to its oxygen with titanic grip in 
the ore state, and makes it difificult to convert into chemical 



392 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

salts, makes titanium a " non-oxiclizer." It does not yield its 
oxygen at all. Most metals give up oxygen with greater ease. 
Iron does, which makes it very valuable in many industries. 
But in logwood blacking of leather this weakness of iron is very 
bad. Leather blacked with logwood and iron on exposure to 
light goes through the following process : The iron gives up a 
part of its oxygen, oxidizing the leather. Then in the dark it 
absorbs more oxygen from the air, and the process is repeated. 
Iron is an oxygen-carrier. This continual slow oxidation of 
the leather finally makes it brittle or " friable," as Procter says. 
It is thus of great importance to use the least amount of iron 
which will bring the black. It is of as great importance to use 
none at all if durable leathers are wanted. 

A better black as to color and a far better black as to dura- 
bility is obtained by using titanium-potassium oxalate in place 
of iron liquor. 

If a black surface is wanted it is better, as well as with iron, 
to apply the logwood solution first and then the titanium 
striker. Very little titanium salt is required, far less than the 
usual amount of iron salts. 

Example : — For otie hundred pounds of dry vegetable-tanned 
skins. — After the logwood (slightly alkaline) is on, run into 
the drum 8 ounces to 12 ounces of titanium-potassium oxalate 
(according to the kind and thickness of skins) in warm water 
and drum five to ten minutes. Wash, fat-liquor and finish as 
usual, but have about i pound of titanium salt in a barrel of 
seasoning and no copperas. 

If the black is required to run deeper or right through the 
leather, many dyers drum with about half the amount of tita- 
nium salt first, then with logwood, and top with the rest of the 
titanium salt. 

Logwood blacks on chrome-tanned skins are quickly pro- 
duced, and are of a very permanent and durable character, by 
using titanium salt as a striker. 

Example : — For one hundred pounds of wet chrome-tanned 
leather proceed as above, using about 4 ounces to 6 ounces 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 393 

titanium-potassium oxalate in solution after the Logwood. 
Finish as usual, but have about i pound of titanium salt in the 
barrel of seasoning and no copperas. Even when iron is used 
with logwood, a few minutes' drumming with a weak titanium 
liquor before striking with the iron liquor gives a better black 
color. Lamb says the blackness of chrome leathers may by 
this treatment " be greatly accentuated." 

Replacing iron liquor entirely with titanium salt solution, 
however, prevents tendency to spue. Blacks with aniline 
colors are wanted with some leathers. A very fast and blue- 
black is made as follows : 

Example : — For two hundred and fifty pounds of dry vege- 
table-tanned skins, lightly retanned. — Blue-black by drumming 
with methyl violet, 8 ounces ; then fat-liquor in the drum. 
Then run in a solution of aniline black with green cast, 4 ounces 
to 6 ounces, and solution of titanium-potassium oxalate, 4 
ounces, and drum about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove, season 
and finish, using i pound titanium-potassium oxalate in a 
barrel of seasoning, and no copperas. 

In this case, washing before finishing is often considered un- 
necessary, as the amount of the mordant was so small. 

Chrome-tanned leathers, if lightly retanned with some tan- 
nin extract, and then treated as above, give beautiful black 
grains and blue blacks. 

Titanium-potassium oxalate is unique in several ways for 
the leather dyer. For the dyer of colors it provides a beauti- 
ful base for coloring and thus saves dyestuffs, at the same time 
cutting out one process and saving valuable time. And the 
wonderful grip the metal has, which renders it so difficult to 
manufacture into its salts, is that particular quality which 
makes it such a powerful mordant, producing colors and blacks 
faster to all deteriorating influences. It is a non-oxidizer and 
does not render the leather liable to become brittle. And a 
small quantity does the work of much more of the mordant. 

It is also an American product manufactured by the Eastern 
Chemical Company in Boston. As the leather dyer wants firs: 



394 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

the quality of his goods high, and next such rapidity as is con- 
sistent with good work, American dyers are more and more 
appreciating the value to them of the combination of color and 
mordant. — From the Shoe and Leather Reporter. 

NOTES ON THE MANUFACTURE AND APPLICATION OF 
FAT- LIQUORS. 

From the scientific point of view there is a great deal still 
unknown in regard to the action on the leather of those emul- 
sions of soap and oil technically termed fat-liquors. While now 
used en many varieties of bark and combination tanned 
leathers, their application is due to the development of, and 
the use of, chrome leather. Indeed it is no exaggeration to 
say that the success of the chrome leather industry was de- 
pendent upon the discovery and application of the fat-liquors, 
and even to-day the use of a correct fat-liquor is vitally neces- 
sary for the production of a commercial product. 

To a considerable degree the formulas for various fat liquors 
are among the most carefully guarded secrets of a leather 
manufacturer, yet in the main the composition and method of 
preparation of a good quality of fat-liquor have become well 
known. Practically then a fat-liquor may be defined as an 
emulsion of oil and water usually containing soaps and fre- 
quently other emulsifying agents: The purpose of the fat- 
liquor is to fill or nourish the leather and keep it from drying 
hard and brittle, but just how this result is effected is not wholly 
understood. Some good authorities have stated that the 
chrome tannage is really a mixed mineral and oil tannage and 
that the fat-liquor should therefore be regarded as a tanning 
agent. There are reasons for and against this view. In the 
old days of bark-tanned leather, the use of oil in finishing or 
currying was certainly an essential part in the production of 
merchantable upper leather. Such oils as were used, however, 
were put in as oils or grease, i. e., the leather was stuffed, to use 
the technical term. The oil or grease was never considered 
as acting as a tanning material, but rather as a lubricant and 
waterproof filling and coating to preserve the leather. 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 395. 

It is presumable that Robert Foerderer, the inventor of vici 
kid, the first merchantable chrome leather, was the real inventor 
of the emulsified fat-liquor, although the claim has never been 
put forward, yet according to all evidence it was the use of the 
fat- liquor that made vici leather far superior to the attempts of 
other leather manufacturers. When the knowledge concerning 
the use of emulsion of oil commenced to leak out, other manu- 
facturers began to make good chrome leather. Before going 
further into the why and wherefore of fat liquors it will be per- 
haps well to consider a little their general constitution and 
preparation. 

Emulsion. — An emulsion is a mixture of liquids which are 
mutually insoluble, but which are so mixed that fine particles 
of one are suspended in the other. The term is usually, al- 
though not necessarily, applied to mixtures of oil and water. 
Milk is often cited as the most perfect type of an emulsion. In 
order that an emulsion may be at all permanent, it is in general 
necessary that a third substance, called an emulsifying agents 
be present. Such emulsifying agents act by increasing the 
viscosity of the one liquid in which the fine particles of the 
other are suspended to such a degree that the tendency to sep- 
arate into dififerent layers is largely overcome. In the case of 
milk the casein and milk albumen act as emulsifying agents. 
In the familiar examples of cod-liver oil emulsions of the 
pharmacy, the emulsifying agent used is gum acacia or gum 
arable. For the purpose of leather manufacture it has been 
found by experience that neither the casein of milk or gum 
arable, or indeed any other gum, acts suitably as emulsifying" 
agent in fat-liquors. Primarily they make trouble by percep- 
tibly stiffening and harshening the leather, and then their power 
to increase viscosity rapidly diminishes with a slight increase in 
temperature. Soap is therefore largely used as an emulsifying 
agent in the preparation of fat-liquors. Regarded simply as an 
emulsifying agent it is not especially effective, but it has the 
extremely important advantage — provided the right kind of it 
is used — that it does not injure the leather. To increase its 



396 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

efficiency two other emulsifying agents are used, namely, egg 
yolk and sulphonated oils. Egg yolk is itself an emulsion, and 
the emulsifying agent in it is known as vitellin, an albumen 
having great resemblance to casein. Presumably because the 
proportion of oil and albumen in the egg yolk to the water 
contained in it is greater than in milk, and it can therefore be 
used in relatively greater proportion, it is much more efficient 
than milk in a fat-liquor. 

Sulphonated Oils. — The subject of sulphonated oils, or acid 
fat-liquors, as fat-liquors containing these treated oils are 
called, is a large one and can be but briefly considered here. 
The best known sulphonated oil is Turkey red oil. This is 
made by the action of sulphuric acid on castor oil. It is 
largely used in the textile industry, especially in the dyeing 
of Turkey reds, hence the name. Its preparation really re- 
quires considerable care, and it is best manufactured on a large 
scale in factories making a specialty of its production. How- 
ever, as leather manufacturers making use of it have very gen- 
erally desired to keep the fact secret, they have endeavored to 
prepare it themselves rather than purchase it from an experi- 
enced maker. Such manufacture is usually attempted with im- 
perfect apparatus as well as imperfect knowledge of the subject. 
In the first place castor oil is practically the only oil that can be 
sulphonated in the true sense of the word because the principal 
fatty acid contained in it is ricinoleic acid, an unsaturated acid. 

This statement does not mean that oils other than castor can- 
not be treated with sulphuric acid and some sort of a product 
obtained, nor should it be understood that it is impossible to 
sulphonate fatty acids other than ricinoleic acid, but under the 
conditions under which castor oil is sulphonated it is impossible 
to substitute other oils and get an analogous product. For ex- 
ample, the fatty acids of linseed oil are largely unsaturated, but 
unless extraordinary precautions are taken to cool the mixture 
of acid and oil, the reaction is so violent that what is known as 
secondary reactions take place and the fatty acids are largely 
destroyed. 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 397 

Rather than attempt to sulphonate Hnseed oil, which from its 
well-known drying nature, i. e., tendency to become resinous, 
does not recommend itself as a good leather lubricant^ a much 
more common practice among tanners is to treat oils — for ex- 
ample, neatsfoot and tallow oils — whose fatty acids are prin- 
cipally acids of the oleic acid class, with sulphuric acid. Now 
it is possible to sulphonate oleic acid, but not under the con- 
ditions usually employed in the tannery. Oleic acid only sul- 
phonates at a high temperature, and when an attempt to sul- 
phonate one of the oils which consist largely of it is made, no 
sulphonation at all, or practically none, results, but by hydro- 
lysis the oil is simply broken up and separates into its constit- 
uent parts, viz , fatty acid and glycerine. For some purposes 
in a fat-liquor it may be desirable to have as constituents a free 
fatty acid and glycerine, but these products do not perform the 
same lunctions as a true sulphonated oil — that is, do not act as 
emulsifying agents. 

Casein. — Casein has been employed as an emulsifying agent, 
but the fact that it is only soluble in alkaline solutions makes 
its use objectionable. Also the extreme liability of its solu- 
tions to putrefy is a disadvantage, especially as the usual anti- 
septics precipitate it. Probably the most satisfactory preser- 
vative for casein solutions is white arsenic ; only a very small 
quantity is needed, and the trace of arsenic that will remain in 
the leather is so infinitesimal that no objection can be raised to 
its use. One part of arsenic to two thousand of fat- liquor is a 
proportion that has been employed with success. 

Egg Yolk. — Egg yolk, as previously stated, is very generally 
used, and forms a valuable constituent of fat-liquors. It is itself 
an emulsion in which an albumen similar to casein is the emul- 
sifying agent. Probably one reason for the superiority of egg 
yolk to casein is, because in the case of the latter the natural 
emulsion is broken up, while egg yolk is used in an unchanged 
state. There is sufi[icient excess of albumen in egg yolk over 
that required to emulsify the natural oil it contains to enable it 
to be used in fat-liquors and hold large proportions of other 



398 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

oils in a state of emulsion, and it is for this purpose that it is 
of value in fat-liquors. Unfortunately some dealers in egg 
yolk, acquainted with this fact, often add other oils to it. 
These oils of themselves are not necessarily deleterious to the 
fat-liquor, but inasmuch as by their presence the emulsifying 
power of the egg yolk is reduced, they are rightly considered 
as adulterations. Still more reprehensible is the practice of 
sophisticating egg yolk with emulsions of oils and casein which 
are colored by aniline dyes. An easy test for adulterations is 
the addition of a small amount of ammonia to one portion of a 
suspected sample, and a small amount of acetic or muriatic acid 
to another. If the addition of either, the ammonia or the acid, 
makes a very decided color change in the egg yolk it indicates 
the presence of an aniline yellow, and presumably an adulter- 
ated product. 

Potash Soaps. — Potash soaps are preferably used as the soap 
constituent of fat- liquors. The reason for this is that they are 
soft soaps, that is, have a low melting point, while that of the 
hard soda soaps is higher. The objection to the high melting 
point, or perhaps to express it another way, the low solidifying 
point of the soda soap is that it causes white specks or soap 
crystals to form in the leather, which is one variety of the familiar 
"" spewing," a specially annoying defect in finished leather. 

While all potash soaps are softer than the corresponding 
soda soaps, i. <?., soaps made from the same kinds of oils or 
fatty acids, a potash soap made from a solid, hard fatty acid 
will be nearly as hard as a soda soap made from a liquid fatty 
acid such as oleic acid. Also if a soda soap is made from a 
liquid fatty acid and a large percentage of water allowed to re- 
main in it, it will closely approximate the appearance of a 
potash or genuine soft soap. A simple drying test will serve, 
however, to distinguish the true from the false. As above ex- 
plained, a soda soap, in order to appear soft, must contain a 
high percentage of water, and this water will evaporate if a 
small sample of the soap is exposed for a few hours to a gentle 
heat in a shallow dish on a radiator or uncovered steam pipe, 



MISCELLAMEOUS PROCESSES. 399 

and leave the soap hard and dry. The potash soaps, on the 
other hand, will never dry out hard unless made from a very 
hard fat. 

Fig Soap. — A soap that has had much vogue for fat-liquor 
purposes is the so-called tig soap. It was originally a potash 
soap made from olive oil foots, that is, the crudest residual oil. 
Such foots contain a considerable amount of unsaponifiable 
matter, largely phytosterol, and this gave to them a consist- 
ency similar to fig paste, in which, on long standing, soap 
crystals formed, which increased the semblance to fig paste by 
giving the appearance of seeds. Much of the fig soap now 
ofifcrcd is made from a mixture of olive oil foots, cotton seed 
oil and tallow, and is much superior in appearance to that 
made exclusively from olive oil foots, as the tallow forms much 
harder soap crystals than occur in the original fig soap, and the 
cotton seed oil is naturally of a lighter color than the foots, and 
consequently the soap is clearer as well as having a more 
seedy appearance. 

For practical use a soap is probably better made in the old 
way, as the hard stearic acid soaps (from the tallow) v/ill 
crystallize in the leather as well as in the soap and cause spue- 
ing. The tanner should be especially warned against the use 
of rosin oils. These oils are obtained by the distillation of rosin, 
and, while they are sapcnifiable, the soaps so formed have few 
of the properties of ordinary soaps and are not available in fat- 
liquors as they have so little emulsifying power. 

The free fatty acids of rosin in oils are objectionable as they 
oxidize and become resinous or gum. Some sulphonated rosin 
oils have been offered for fat-liquor purposes, and while the 
writer has not had the opportunity to experimentally examine 
them, from theoretical considerations there does not seem any 
reason to suppose that they will have suf^cient efficiency to re- 
place the higher priced castor oil compounds. 

A final word in regard to fat-liquors as to the question of 
alkalinity or acidity. The first fat-liquors were essentially alka- 
line, because of their large soap content; the sulphonated oil 



400 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

compounds, on the other hand, have an acid nature. Now if 
alkaline and acid fat- liquors are mixed, as frequently has been 
the case, the possible good effects of either used separately are 
nullified. 

The effects on colors and stains should be considered also 
and especial cognizance taken of the fact that an acid fat-liquor 
has much less effect on colors. — {^The Shoe and Leather Re- 
porter. ) 

REMOVING SPOTS AND STAINS FROM LEATHER. 

When spots and stains get onto colored leather it is not an 
easy matter to remove them so that they will not show. Prac- 
tical experiments have proved the following methods to be the 
most effective that can be used. 

Colored leather that is simply soiled or dirty and not stained 
may be washed off with warm Castile or Ivory soap suds ; then 
dried and rubbed. Or a little acid may be added. The acid 
must be very mild and applied very carefully. A dirty water 
stain is sometimes taken out with the juice of a lemon, which 
is the mildest acid that can be used. Vinegar also is employed 
for water and other stains. 

An oil spot may be removed by dipping a piece of rubber in 
naphtha and rubbing over the spot. Another way is to cover 
the spot with cement, such as is used in shoe factories. After 
the cement has dried for an hour or a little longer, rub or roll 
it off with the finger. If a little is left, go over it with the rub- 
ber dipped in naphtha. 

For general dirt from the hands, a little oxalic acid well di- 
luted may be used. Wash the dirt off and then wash with soap 
and water and perhaps apply a little of the finish. An aniline 
stain cannot very well be taken out ; but it can be helped some- 
what with a rubber. Some of the aniline can be washed off 
with a regular wash, as with soap and water. However, the 
.stained part of the leather cannot be made to look like the rest 
because it has soaked through more or less. It depends much 
upon the leather as to how far aniline will penetrate. Some 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 4OI 

sorts have a hard surface and the aniline does not penetrate far, 
while others are soft and the stain goes right through. There 
are various preparations on the market that shoe manufacturers 
use for stains and some of these are employed to clean and 
polish vamps in one or more operations. Leather that becomes 
stained or discolored should be recolored into black stock. 

Grease spots that sometimes get onto leather from oil from 
pulleys or shafting may be taken out with shoemaker's cement 
and chalk. Put the cement on first, then lay the chalk on and 
work both into the leather with the flat of a knife, or by any 
other means. The cement will eat into the grease, and it 
should stay on until the grease comes out, even if it takes 
twenty-four or forty-eight hours. Use pure rubber cement for 
this purpose, for a cheap article is apt to stain the leather. The 
cement will dry after a little time so that it can be rolled ofT, 

Another method is to place a piece of cloth or some cotton 
waste saturated with naphtha over the spot. This is covered 
over with another cloth to prevent too rapid evaporation. 
More than one application may be necessary for the grease or 
stain must dry out gradually. It is the naphtha in the cement 
that is supposed to remove the grease ; and it might be applied 
in any other form, provided not enough is used to bleach the 
leather. Slight spots may be rubbed out dry with a saturated 
cloth. Ether is also sometimes used. 

White ooze leather, and possibly also white grain leather, 
that has become soiled may be cleaned with salt of sorrel in 
the following manner : Cold water is applied to the leather, 
washing it all over. A mixture of salt and lemon juice or salt 
of sorrel, so-called, which can be secured at any drug store, is 
then rubbed over the soiled portion, with the result that all the 
spots, stains and dirt marks disappear and the leather is once 
more white. The leather must always be washed over with 
water, which must be rubbed over the entire skin ; but the mix- 
ture of salt and lemon juice is applied only to the soiled portion. 
26 



402 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

HOW TO RETAN CHROME LEATHER. 

When making chrome leather the tanner should always be 
sure that his hides or skins are fully tanned before any attempt 
at coloring and finishing is made. If tanning was begun early 
in the day, the leather should be tanned before quitting time at 
night; but if it is not completely tanned, enough cold water 
should be added to the liquor in the drum to cover the leather. 
The drum should be run five minutes to mix the water with the 
tan liquor ; and the leather should then be left in the liquor 
until the next morning. Then run the drum for an hour; re- 
move the leather and place it over a horse for twenty-four hours. 
Provided sufficient tanning material was used, this treatment 
will insure leather that is completely tanned. 

Light skins and the grains of split hides do not require re- 
tanning except with gambier, palmetto or sumac for colors. 
The vegetable tan not only acts as a mordant for the dye but 
also serves, to some extent, to retan the leather. The process 
is as follows : ■ 

After washing, the leather should be struck out or pressed 
and shaved. For each hundred pounds of leather from two to 
three pounds of gambier or of palmetto extract are used. Dis- 
solve the material by boiling it in six gallons of water; then 
add six gallons of cold water. Drum the leather in this liquor 
for forty-five minutes or an hour, and it is then fully retanned 
and also in good condition to be colored. While not always 
necessary, it is well to dissolve and add to the liquor in the 
drum at the end of the time stated, a few ounces of tartar emetic 
to clear the grain and set the dye. This treatment is not re- 
quired for black leather but with colored leather it helps ma- 
terially to get uniform coloring. More gambier than the quan- 
tity mentioned should not be used or the grain will be made 
tender and the leather will have the appearance of vegetable 
tannage. 

Hides that are to be split after tanning, should be tanned in 
a paddle wheel or suspended in the liquor in a vat, then pressed 
and split. When they have been pressed, mill them in a dry 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 403 

mill until they are opened up ready to split, then jack them the 
same as for bark splitting. After they have been split, the 
grains almost invariably need shaving and retanning. To each 
hundred pounds of leather dissolve five pounds of salt in ten 
gallons of water and drum the leather in this solution ten min- 
utes. Then add three quarts of chrome liquor and drum three 
or four hours ; then horse the leather up for twenty-four hours 
and wash it in the usual manner. The grains can be colored 
blue or black while they are being retanned by adding to the 
chrome liquor sufficient nigrosine and drumming as directed. 
Subsequent dyeing with logwood is necessary as the nigrosine 
simply colors the flesh and prepares the grain for the subse- 
quent blacking. 

After being washed, the grains are in condition to be mor- 
danted with tannin or dyed with logwood and striker if black 
leather is wanted. A light retanning with some vegetable tan 
is also good for black leather as it gives a fine grain and deep 
black. 

It is impossible to finish chrome leather that is not fully 
tanned, as the raw fibers in the center dry hard and bony and 
it cannot be made soft by oiling and staking. The only thing 
that can be done is to drum it in a strong, hot salt solution for 
two hours, then drain ofif the solution and add salt water, and 
to this some one- bath chrome liquor, and drum the leather at 
least two hours to be sure it is retanned. The preliminary 
drumming in hot salt water softens the leather so that it will 
take up the chrome liquor. After it has been retanned it 
should be washed, given a little more fat-liquor, and dried. 
When dry, stake and finish with a boarded or dull finish. 
Tacking on boards to dry is necessary to stretch the grain 
smooth and to draw out the wrinkles that are caused by re- 
tanning. 

The more thoroughly grains and skins are tanned the more 
easily they color and finish and the more satisfactory the 
leather is when it is finished. 



404 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

HOW TO TEST NEATSFOOT OIL. 
Take a four-ounce vial or a regular oil sample bottle and 
fill it with oil ; then place the bottle in the can of an ice- 
cream freezer. Prepare a mixture of ice and salt of ten parts 
ice and one part salt, proportions estimated on weight of ice 
used. Surround the can with this mixture. Insert a ther- 
mometer in the opening at the top, and when the air-chamber 
surrounding the bottle has reached 20 degrees Fahr. keep it at 
that temperature for four hours. If after that period of time 
the oil will flow when the bottle is inverted, it is a good twenty- 
degree oil and one very suitable for oiling, or to be used in any 
other way on leather. If the oil is hard and looks like so much 
lard, soften it by allowing it to stand for an hour or so at the 
ordinary temperature of a room and make another experiment, 
this time allowing the oil to cool to 25 degrees. In this way 
the cold test of the oil can be determined. Great care must be 
exercised in this experiment as in all others, as accuracy is 
the first law of success. See to it, therefore, that the ther- 
mometer is accurate. Get a good one from any house that 
supplies chemical apparatus. The cold test alone does not 
determine the quality and grade of the oil. It only helps to 
arrive at the final decision when the other tests are made. The 
next experiment is the Maumene test. In a beaker of 100 c.c. 
capacity, weigh off exactly fifty grams (28.35 grams in one 
ounce) of oil and add to this amount exactly 10 c.c. of chem- 
ically pure concentrated sulphuric acid of specific gravity 1. 84, 
stirring constantly with a Centigrade thermometer. Take the 
temperature of the oil before any acid is added and then record 
the temperature after the acid has been added and the oil 
stirred for a few minutes. During the addition of the acid a 
gradual rise in temperature will be noticed, caused by heat be- 
ing generated by the change of the oil and acid into sulpho- 
nated oil. This rise in temperature should be high if the oil 
is a pure animal oil, and yet not too high, because the rise in 
temperature for a pure neatsfoot oil is between 45 and 48 de- 
grees Centigrade. If the rise is higher or lower than the fig- 
ures given adulteration may be suspected. 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 405" 

The mixture in the previous experiment should not be 
thrown away but poured into a 100 c.c. graduated cylinder and 
set aside for about two days. If there is mineral oil present in 
the sample under examination, it will separate out when stand- 
ing for that length of time, as sulphonated oil does not unite 
with mineral oil. By this method it is possible to determine 
the amount of mineral oil. 

Also purchase with a thermometer for oils a hydrometer 
which records readings from ,908 to .938 and with this instru- 
ment take the specific gravity. A pure oil ought to record 
between .915 and .918. Anything higher or lower is indicative 
of an inferior product. 

While these tests are not absolute proofs of the quality of 
the oil, yet if good judgment is used in the matter, they will 
be sufficient to say whether it is safe to use the oil or not. 
There are many houses selling oils but few are handling the 
pure 20-degree oil which is the best for the leather trade. No 
tanner can afford to use anything but the best neatsfoot oil. 

A PROCESS OF FAT-LIQUORING. 

Black as well as colored leather, especially chrome tanned, 
is treated with different fats or oils, and also with albumen, for 
the purpose of softening and filling. The object is to have these 
substances as finely divided as possible in a watery solvent in 
order that they may enter the minutest pores of the hide, filling 
them through and through. These fats and oils are generally 
prepared with alkaline substances, such as soda, borax, etc., 
which are cooked together. But in order that the skins may 
retain their natural chemical and physical properties as little 
alkali as possible should be used. 

Attempts have been made to increase the quantities of oils 
and fats in these soap liquors, and special apparatus has been 
employed to make more perfect the amalgamation of the in- 
gredients. Some of these appliances have worked well, as the 
soap liquor becomes greatly enriched with the fat, but a con- 
siderable quantity of soap is always required. Soaps and 



406 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

soaped oils are injurious to the leather and must always be 
washed out or the leather will spew. Where hard lime water is 
used this difficulty becomes more pronounced. 

The writer has discovered how to produce a fat-liquor that 
contains no soap and only the smallest possible quantity of soda. 
The liquor he makes contains but one per cent, of the fat weight 
of soda. The fat remains in its purest natural condition, and 
therefore yields the highest results and can be mixed with water 
without the aid of machinery. Of course these fat- liquors may 
be improved with an emulsifier, and when large quantities are 
consumed the use of this apparatus is recommended. With 
some changes these new fat-liquors may be also used upon 
bark, extract or alum tanned leather, but they are especially 
prepared for use in connection with the chrpme tannage, and 
should be applied in the following manner: Washed skins 
should be handled in a drum with warm water in order to heat 
them. While the drum is in motion add the first liquor, 
which should have been previously diluted with water. The 
drum should be revolved ten minutes, when the oil will be ab- 
sorbed by the skins. It is easy to determine whether all the 
oil has been absorbed by noting that the liquor, which was pre- 
viously clouded and milky, has now become as clear as water. 
This first liquor, which consists of an emulsion of rosin oil with 
a little starch, is used to render the skins fine and soft and to 
prevent them coming out in a condition which may be de- 
scribed as a " greasy dryness." Colored skins assume a 
brighter luster by this process. 

Skins that have been colored after going through the first 
liquor are washed in cold water, then a short time in warm 
water, and after this fresh water is turned into the wheel. 

The second liquor, which has previously been diluted with 
warm water, is then poured into the wheel, which is revolved 
for one-half an hour. The fluid should then be as clear as 
water, all the fat having been absorbed. The skins are then 
washed in warm water a short time, but this is not absolutely 
necessary, as the succeeding operations are continued in the 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. . 407 

usual way. The choice of fat must be made according to the 
amount of filling, softness and luster wanted in the finished 
leather. 

The new fat-liquors are prepared as follows, for 100 pounds 
of hide weight. The first liquor, which consists of rosin oil to 
the amount of one-half per cent, of the hide weight is com- 
pounded as follows : In one quart of soft water at 70 degrees 
C. (158° F.), 20 grains of soda are dissolved. Add to this 30 
grains of potato starch, previously kneaded into dough with 
one-half pint of lukewarm water. Then one-half pint of rosin 
oil is slowly added. The milky solution thus obtained may be 
diluted as desired with warm water. Should the skins be 
hungry, a double quantity of soda and starch may be given. 
The second fat-liquor is made thus : In two quarts of warm 
water 40 or 50 grains of soda are dissolved, and to this solution 
60 to 75 grains of potato starch, previously kneaded into dough 
with lukewarm water, are added. Then one pint of heated 
rosin oil is slowly added. Into this emulsion, which is similar 
to the first, the fats and oils, which must first be heated, are 
slowly poured. For example, to obtain good, full leather, with 
a fine feel and softness and of medium luster, one pound of sod 
oil or degras, or a mixture of both, one to two pounds of neats- 
foot oil and one pound of vaseline oil are added. If this mix- 
ture is properly prepared no oil or fat will float in the milk. 
But should oil or fat be found floating on the surface, a little 
more starch and soda should be added. The process is sim- 
plified by running the solution through an emulsifier. In order 
to impart the Russia leather scent to the leather a little birch 
oil may be added to the emulsion. 

The fat-liquors should never be boiled and should also be 
guarded against cold. They must therefore be kept in a warm 
place, as in both cases (boiling and chilling) the oils and fats 
separate in large drops or lumps. They should also only be 
mixed with warm, not boiling, water, and applied to warm 
skins, the latter being kept warm until finished (dry), or at. 
least until the setting-out. The fat-liquors keep in a warm 



408 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

place, especially if they have passed through a good emulsifier, 
without being altered, for several days ; one can therefore 
make a stock. The stock of preparatory liquor is best kept 
for itself, and one can take the necessary quantity from it for 
the finish liquor. 

Good fat liquors are also made by using castor oil in place 
of rosin oil. — Dr. Carl Dreher in Schuh and Leder. 

THE RECOVERY OF CHROME RESIDUES. 

In the two bath method of chrome tanning the first bath, 
which contains an acidified solution of bichromate, is never 
completely exhausted. It has been frequently proposed to 
utilize the residual chrome in this bath by making use of a 
standing bath, that is, never wholly discarding a bath, but add- 
ing to it each time a quantity of bichromate and acid sufiEicient 
to restore its original constitution. Unfortunately this renewal 
of the bath is an extremely complicated matter. 

The method of a standing bath, while possible in dyeing, 
seems to be impracticable in tanning, because a small variation 
of the ratio of its different constituents to each other or to the 
volume of the solution exerts a strong influence on the condi- 
tion of the leather. Possibly when the influence both of the 
neutral salts, and the acid and chromium compound are more 
perfectly understood and the analytical methods for determining 
them are more accurately established, it will be possible to 
avoid the waste of chrome, which takes place when these first 
liquors are run away, by using them over and over- again. 
With our present knowledge, however, it is probably more 
practical not to try to utilize this chrome again in tanning and 
produce thereby a poorer leather, thus saving at the spigot, as 
it were, and losing at the bung, but to recover the chrome in 
some form which would make it available for some other 
purpose. 

Two processes for the recovery of chrome as a by-product 
have been proposed, both of which can be worked profitably, 
provided proper care is taken and the work of the tanner is on 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 409 

a sufficiently large scale to warrant expenditure for labor. The 
first process consists in the precipitation of the chrome as 
chromate of lead or chrome yellow. There is an extensive de- 
mand for this pigment and the particular shade is not of very 
great importance so long as it runs strictly uniform. In order 
to obtain uniformity the precipitation should be always made 
under as near the same conditions as possible, and to obtain 
brilliancy the solution should be filtered before precipitation 
takes place, and some alum added as a clarifying agent. 
White sugar of lead should be used for precipitation. A filter 
press fs absolutely essential to collect the precipitate. The 
product may be dried or sold in the pulp form to mixed paint 
manufacturers. The price which is obtained for the chrome 
yellow would depend on the care with which it is made, but 
with ordinary precautions taken this working up of a by-pro- 
duct should be fairly remunerative. 

The second method of utilizing the waste chrome is to re- 
duce it with sodium bisulphite or sulphurous acid gas, precipi- 
tate with soda ash, collect in a filter press the chrome hydrate 
so formed, wash it thoroughly, and use for the manufacture of 
one-bath tan liquors. This method is in many ways preferable 
to the manufacture of chrome yellow as it does not involve the 
looking for an outside market with any of its attendant bothers. 
In order to conduct even this recovery of chrome profitably, 
the liquors must be analyzed and no great excess of reducing 
agents or soda employed, as otherwise these chemicals may be 
wasted and no real gain obtained. 

OILING CHROME LEATHER. 

The finishing of chrome leather cannot be called currying, 
since no heavy stuffing or hard grease is used, the only grease 
that the leather receives being an emulsion of oil, soap and de- 
gras, or some other suitable material, and a coat of oil applied 
to the grain before it is dried. The oils that are suitable for 
the grains of chrome leather are neatsfoot, olive, sperm and 
paraffine. Neatsfoot oil is often used alone although it is also 



410 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

mixed with parafifine oil. A good mixture for chrome glazed 
leather is one part neatsfoot and three parts paraffine oils ; and 
for dull-finished leather equal parts of the two oils. The oils 
should be warmed, mixed and applied warm to the leather with 
a sponge. The leather should be thoroughly struck out with a 
slicker before it is oiled. 

Another good combination is one part olive and three parts 
parafifine oils. The mixture should be applied evenly over the 
grain, more being put on for a dull finish than for a glazed one,^ 
since too much oil makes the grain too soft and greasy to glaze 
clear and bright. It is best not to touch the flanks when oil- 
ing the leather. Sperm or olive oil is good for colored chrome 
leather. 

A pure petroleum oil, such as 34 gravity neutral, is good for 
any glazed leather. Good results are obtained by mixing it 
with what is known as fleshing oil, using equal parts of the two 
oils. Heat the oils to 200 degrees Fahr., mix them well and let 
them cool before use. 

To preserve the finish and prevent spewing a coat of the 
petroleum oil heated to 100 degrees Fahr. should be applied to 
the leather after it has been finished. Finishing and kid oils^ 
so-called, are nothing but 34 degrees neutral petroleum oil, 
although they are generally sold under fancy names at fancy 
prices. Fleshing oil is much cheaper than neatsfoot and pro- 
duces equally good results. 

The parafifine oils, when used together with pure cod oil, in 
proper proportions, are very satisfactory for sole and rough 
leathers. The proportions of the two oils should be from 25 to 
60 per cent, parafifine oil and from 40 to 75 per cent, cod oiL 
A good mixture is made of 40 per cent, cod and 60 per cent, 
parafifine. The regular 28 degree parafifine oil is the most suit- 
able for rough and sole leathers. 

There are also several specially treated neatsfoot, cod and 
olive oils on the market that have great softening properties, 
prevent spew and gum, and do not discolor the most delicate 
colored leather. 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 4I I 

Low grade oils should never be put onto chrome leather. 
They undergo a process of fermentation in the leather, give it 
a bad odor and spew out upon the surface in the form of white 
scum that is very difificult to remove. It is advisable to use the 
best grades of oil, especially for oiling the grain, since the quan- 
tity put on is small and the difference in cost is not worth tak- 
ing into account when the quality of the finish is considered. 

FORMIC ACID IN LEATHER MANUFACTURE. 

In Coloring. — In the dyeing of leather with acid dyes it is 
customary and necessary to use sulphuric acid in the dye bath 
to get the shade. The acid remains in the leather and brings 
about gradual deterioration, which is especially noticeable in 
book-binders' leather, but is also true of every other kind. 
Sulphuric acid may, to very great advantage, be replaced by 
formic acid. Formic acid, after dyeing, is entirely removed 
from the leather by evaporation, and hence is harmless after it 
has served its purpose in the dyeing operation. The advantage 
of this property is so great that the comparative cost does not 
come into consideration. A certain amount of acid will bring 
out the maximum depth of shade. In using formic acid no 
harm is done to the leather, even if the amount required is ex- 
ceeded, as the acid evaporates during the drying of the leather. 
But when sulphuric acid is used the maximum quantity of acid 
required to bring out the full depth of color cannot be used, as 
it cannot be washed away after coloring, and it does not evap- 
orate, but remains in the leather and weakens its strength. In 
the dyeing operation it is necessary to use just twice as much 
formic acid as sulphuric acid, otherwise the process is the 
same. 

For the purpose of removing iron stains from leather and to 
clear it and make it as light-colored as possible sulphuric acid 
is used. The leather is drummed in a very weak solution of 
the acid, then washed and colored. Other acids, such as 
formic, lactic, acetic, tartaric, citric and chromic, are without 
effect in this process. Oxalic and hydrochloric acids answer 



412 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

the purpose but injure the leather. Hence sulphuric acid can- 
not be dispensed with for this purpose ; but in the actual dye- 
ing of the leather formic acid may be used, it being the only 
organic acid that will produce a depth of shade equal to sul- 
phuric acid, and with no damage to the leather. 

In Finishing. — When leather is to be glazed the surface 
grease must be removed. For this purpose a dilute solution 
of formic acid may be used. The acid is diluted with water 
and rubbed into the grain of the leather, which is then dried. 
When dry, the grain should be rubbed with a soft cloth and 
then be given the first coat of seasoning. The acid cuts the 
grease and makes the grain clean and dry, so that a clear, 
bright finish can be obtained. 

In Pickling. — Skins, after they have been drenched or bated, 
may be kept indefinitely by being pickled in a weak solution 
of formic acid and then placed in a strong solution of common 
salt. For the acid bath one pound of formic acid may be used 
to every twenty-five gallons of water. After the skins have 
been permeated with the acid they should be allowed to drain 
several hours and then be placed in a solution of salt. This 
process gives them a darker color than the sulphuric acid 
pickle but has advantages that ofifset that of color, the chief 
one being that the acid has no detrimental effect upon them. 
Glauber's salt may be used in place of common salt with 
slightly better results. Skins pickled with this process never 
mildew or mold ; they can be tanned in a sweet liquor after 
very slight washing in cold water, just sufificient to remove 
the salt. 

In Drenching. — A mixture of four parts formic acid and one 
part lactic acid makes a good bate or drench in which to de- 
lime skins. Less than one-half pint of the mixed acids is suffi- 
cient for one hundred washed skins. The temperature of the 
drench should be about 90 degrees Fahr., the goods being pro- 
cessed in it for one hour or longer. The drench also produces 
good results when used after skins have been partly bated 
with manure. After drenching, they should be washed and 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 4 1 3. 

then pickled or tanned. When drenched with formic acid they 
tan out into very clear and uniformly colored leather. 

In Plumphig. — Formic acid also renders service in the tan- 
ning liquors where it plunges the hides and makes them more 
receptive to tannin. To secure good plumping in heavy hides 
the acid should be added to the second, and even the third, 
and fourth, liquors. As the hides swell they absorb tannin and 
the liquors must therefore be watched to prevent exhaustion of 
their tanning strength. The formic acid acts as a preservative 
to hides and liquor; the plumping is a natural one so that the 
color as well as the yield and quality are very satisfactory. 
The acidity of a tanning liquor does not, as a rule, exceed one- 
half of one per cent, and it is not difficult to determine the 
quantity of acid that should be used to obtain the percentage 
of acidity. The weaker liquors in a tannery, such as handlers, 
hangers or rockers, do not require over one-quarter of one per 
cent, acidity to obtain good plump leather. The action of 
formic acid on the hides is quick and penetrating. It also pre- 
vents any putrefaction that might take place in the weak liquors. 
Unlike lactic and sulphuric acids, it is volatile and can be re- 
moved from the liquors by passing them through a heater on 
their return to the leach house. A little formic acid in water 
makes a bath in which sweated hides may be immersed to 
arrest putrefaction and preserve them. A five per cent, solu- 
tion is sufficiently strong for this purpose. No other acid serves 
this purpose. 

METHOD OF DEPILATING WITH SULPHIDE OF 
SODIUM AND LIME. 

The best results are obtained by combining sulphide of 
sodium and lime. The lime is slaked with hot water; in an- 
other tub from two to four pounds of sulphide is dissolved for 
each bushel of lime, and this solution is added to the lime and 
mixed with it. This mixture is then thrown into the liming 
vat with sufficient water for dilution, and the hides or skins are: 
immersed in the liquor; 



414 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

The better way to conduct the operation is to use a paddle 
wheel tub so that the skins may have their positions changed 
in the liquor without the necessity of hauling them out of the 
lime as in the other way. 

The advantages of using sulphide of sodium are that it 
shortens the time usually required for the liming process ; it 
makes the lime more soluble so that it is more easily washed 
and worked out of the skins ; it produces a finer and softer 
grain and does away with the high, harsh grain so often ap- 
parent when Hme alone is used. The skins should be washed, 
worked out and bated in the usual way after being removed 
from the lime, 

METHOD OF USING PATENTED DEPILATORY 
CRYSTALS WITH LIME. 

If it is desired to save the hair, the skins should be soaked 
and flushed and then have the water extracted from them by 
means of a hydro-extractor ; or if no extractor is available, they 
should be drained thoroughly by placing them smoothly over 
a horse and leaving them thereon until the water is well pressed 
out. They are then painted on the flesh side with- the depila- 
tory reduced with hot water to i8 degrees Baume strength and 
cooled, then folded neatly, flesh side in, and laid in small piles 
until the next day, when the hair can be rubbed off. After the 
hair is off, they should be limed a few days, then washed and 
bated. 

If the hair is not to be saved, a liquor should be made by 
dissolving depilatory in water until twelve pounds have been 
used to every one hundred gallons. This liquor should be well 
stirred, the skins put in and left therein until the next day when 
the hair can be washed off and the skins limed. If dried stock 
is not thoroughly soaked before being put into this liquor it 
does not matter, as it can be left in it from twenty-four to forty- 
eight hours or until it is soft and plump. The hair can be 
washed off and the skins then limed for a few days in weak, 
clean lime liquor. Sulphide of sodium can be used in this man- 
ner also. 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 415 

DISTILLATE TANNAGE. 

Distillate tannage and its relation to, and advantages over, 
other methods of mak'ng leather will now be briefly consid- 
ered. To fully understand the matter it is necessary to start 
at the beginning and present the theory. The sap of a living 
tree is the blood of the tree, dififusing substance and growth 
thereto. When the sap of the tree comes into contact with the 
air, or rather oxygen, it becomes oxidized into an acid, which 
accounts for its presence in the bark. Therefore, if the material 
which made an acid in the bark did not first exist in the wood, 
it would not occur in the bark. Thus it follows that in the 
wood itself is the bulk of tanning power which has been found 
to be eight times that of bark. The source of supply in distil- 
late tannage, unlike bark, is not destroyed ; the pruning of 
small limbs yields the material for distillation. In the process 
of distilling, a charcoal is produced which pays the cost of dis- 
tillation, and the tanning distillate is in evidence at no cost. 

Chlorine is next introduced to oxidize the distillate, and the 
tanning power of a tree is harnessed for work. This tannage 
does not mold, sour or decay, or change in any respect. It is 
a very powerful agent, and it will work in union with any vege- 
table tannage if desired. It will, in union with bark, produce 
sole leather in thirty days; and, when used in such a manner, 
double the capacity of any bark tannery. Straight distillate 
leather is the strongest leather produced. It will not harden 
or crack under any circum.stances, and will give more wear 
than any other known leather. The cost of tanning is one-half 
that of bark or chrome; and it has produced side leather in 
nine days from the beam-house. Distillate tannage has been 
improved and developed until it does its work as rapidly as 
chrome and has some points of superiority over other methods 
of making leather. The leather may be dried and curried at 
any time. Its cost is much less and it is a standing bath. 
It will not rot or burn stock, and produces an oil-tanned leather 
in a class by itself. The odor of distillate tanned leather is 
easily changed in finishing. 



4l6 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

FAT-LIQUORING WITH KROMOLINE S. 

As practical tanners are aware, many of the troubles inci- 
dental to the manufacture of the lighter leathers are due ta 
imperfect fat-liquoring or impregnating the skin fiber with oily 
products. Fat-liquoring is a comparatively modern introduc- 
tion, and this being so, it is easy to see why the process has 
often proved a failure, even when the diflEiculties incidental to 
chrome tanning have been overcome. As a matter of fact, fat- 
liquoring depends on several important points which are either 
not understood or lost sight of, and as the process in practice 
has, as a rule, to be worked by operators of only average intel- 
ligence, it is important that it should be kept as simple in 
manipulation as possible. Many attempts have been made to 
introduce a fat-liquor that is more reliable and as cheap as the 
article manufactured in the tannery. 

A preparation known as Kromoline S is proving to be useful 
on all chrome-tanned and vegetable-tanned goods. It is a fat- 
liquor which will not affect the shade produced in dyeing. 
For this reason it can be used after dyeing where no other fat- 
liquor is advisable, as it does not strip the color from the skins. 
It is also claimed for this material that skins will glaze up much 
better in finishing than in the case of ordinary fat-liquors. 
The penetration of Kromoline S is complete, so that with ordi- 
nary care it is practically impossible to over fat-liquor the 
goods. 

Complete neutralization of the skins is necessary before fat- 
liquoring. Acid in the leather interferes with getting the best 
results of the process. 

A general method of using the fat-liquor is as follows : For 
one hundred pounds of wet skins, take five to six pounds of 
Kromoline S; dissolve by mixing with four to eight gallons 
of fairly soft, hot water and then boiling the solution. Then 
run it in at 140 degrees Fahr. through the gudgeon onto the 
skins in the drum while the latter is in motion. Run the drum 
for forty minutes ; then finish the skins in the usual manner. 
Kromoline S may be obtained of I. Levenstein & Co., 74 India 
St., Boston, Mass. 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 417 

COLORING CHROME-TANNED SKINS WITH SULFAMINE DYES. 

Chrome-tanned goatskins are very satisfactorily colored with 
sulfamine dyes. These dyes, when properly used, produce full, 
clear and uniform shades of color. They are not used in the 
same manner as aniline dyes. No mordanting with tannic acid 
is required. It is merely necessary to thoroughly wash the 
skins after they are tanned, in order to rid them of all salts and 
acids and to get them in perfectly neutral condition before 
applying the dye. The skins should also be free from grease. 
The dyeing may be done in drums or reels, such as are in 
common use. In order that the color may penetrate readily, a 
small quantity of carbonate of ammonia may be added to the 
dye liquor, but this must be neutralized afterwards by a little 
acetic acid. 

The skins, after being colored, should be fat-liquored at 
once, the surplus water being, of course, struck or pressed out 
before fat-liquoring. The fat-liquor should be used at 120 de- 
grees Fahr., and the skins drummed therein for at least thirty 
minutes. Care must be taken that the fat-liquor is neutral, 
that is, containing no excessive amotmt of alkali. Some dyes 
are readily injured by an excess of alkali in the fat-liquor. A 
very good neutral fat-liquor capable of imparting great softness 
and smoothness to chrome-tanned skins may be made by 
emulsifying egg-yolk and neatsfoot oil. 

After the fat-liquoring is completed, the skins are struck 
out, given a light application of glycerine and water upon the 
grain, followed by a light coat of oil, and then dried out, staked, 
softened and finished. 

DRENCHING WITH LACTIC ACID. 

Sheepskins. — For an average weight pack of 800 to 1000 
sheepskins, 20 pounds of lactic acid and 20 pounds of common 
salt are required. Ten pounds of lactic acid and all the salt 
should be added before the skins are put in ; after they have 
been in fifteen minutes the rest of the acid should be added. 
The time for drenching should be thirty to forty-five minutes in 
27 



41 8 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

a paddle vat ; in a still vat, one to three hours with two or three 
thorough agitations during that period ; in a drum twenty to 
thirty minutes is sufficient. 

The water should be preferably 75 degrees to 90 degrees 
Fahr., if cooler than this, more salt will be required to keep 
down the plumpness. Several packs of skins may be put 
through this drench, with a fresh addition of 15 pounds of 
lactic acid for each succeeding pack, adding the acid, 5 pounds 
at first, and then ten pounds after the goods have been in fifteen 
minutes. If skins are too plump, 10 pounds of salt may be 
added with succeeding packs, but it usually is not necessary. 
For dried slats the above quantities may be decreased one- 
third. 

Goatskins. — After the skins have been bated with manure, 
prepare a bath in a paddle with warm water and for every 100 
pounds of skins add one-half to three-quarters of a pound of 
lactic acid and an equal quantity of salt. Water should be at 
90 degrees Fahr. before the skins are put in ; they are paddled 
twenty minutes, then washed off and pickled. This method is 
advantageous for goods that are intended to be colored as the 
lactic acid cleanses them in the best possible manner. 

Horsehides, Coltskins, Cowhides, Etc. — Use one pound of lactic 
acid and one pound of common salt for every 100 pounds of 
hides for first pack, adding the acid in two portions. For succeed- 
ing packs add three-quarters of a pound lactic acid and one-half 
pound of salt for every lOO pounds of hides. This drench may 
be used for a week or so, but the addition of salt should cease 
after five or six packs have been put in. The temperature of 
the drench should be 85 degrees Fahr. ; time consumed from 
thirty minutes to four hours, depending on the weight of the hides 
and the agitation they receive. The more thoroughly they are 
washed after liming the less acid they require. After the pro- 
cess is completed they should be rinsed in warm water and then 
pickled or tanned. 

Heavy Upper and Patent Leathers. — For heavy upper leather 
made from hides such as wax grain, bufTed, mat or boarded 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 419 

leathers and for patent leather, or when thickness and weight 
of splits are the main considerations, the simplest method of 
bating with lactic acid is the best. An excess of acid is used. 
This removes the lime and holds the hide plump. The formula 
ior such cases is one pound of lactic acid for every one hun- 
dred pounds of hides, green weight. Bating is dune in a 
paddle or still vat for four or five hours or over night. This 
bate may be used continuously for a week in warm weather, or 
for two or three weeks in cold weather, with a fresh addition of 
three-quarters pound of lactic acid to each hundred pounds of 
hides for each new pack put in. The water in the bate should 
be at the ordinary temperature. By this method good grain 
and fine heavy leather are obtained. 

In those cases where an extra fine grain is desired, as for 
glove grain and calf leathers, a more depleting bate must be 
employed. In starting such a bate an addition of common salt 
is usually made in proportion of one pound of salt to one hun- 
dred pounds of hides, and then the lactic acid is added in several 
portions. The total amount of lactic acid should amount to 
about three-quarters of a pound for one hundred pounds of hides. 
As an example : For a pack of hides weighing 2000 pounds, the 
amount of lactic acid to use would be 15 pounds. The bate 
would be made up by putting in first 20 pounds of salt and 5 
pounds of acid, and then the hides are introduced. At the end 
of an hour an addition of 5 pounds of lactic acid should be made 
and at the end of another hour 5 pounds more of lactic acid 
should be added. This bate may be used a week or more until 
foul, adding the lactic acid in 5 pound proportions each time 
lor each new pack; four or five hours should suffice for bating. 
There need be no fresh quantity of salt put in as the lactate of 
lime which will accumulate in the bate answers the same pur- 
pose. Instead of running away all of the bate liquor after it 
has been used a week or so, it is generally advisable to use 
part of the old bate for starting a new one by running it into 
another bating vat, and then filling up with fresh water. The 
bottom half of the old bate may be allowed to run away as it 
will contain too much accumulated matter. 



420 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

In cold weather the bating for heavy upper leather should be 
warmed somewhat, say to about 75 to 80 degrees Fahr. as the 
most desirable temperature. 

In most cases, instead of using an absolutely new bate, it is 
advantageous to mellow the new bate by adding part of an old 
bate to it. 

An example may make this method clearer : There are, we 
will suppose, two bating vats, A and B. In the beginning one 
of these (vat A) must be started fresh. After vat A has run a 
week, vat B is started by filling it half full of water and adding^ 
the right proportion of lactic acid, and then pumping the upper 
half of vat A into it. The bottom half of vat A is then run off. 
At the end of the second week A is half filled with water, and 
the upper half of vat B is pumped in, while the lower half of 
vat B is run off. Thus two vats are worked alternately, and 
always with a fairly old bate liquor. 

Hides should always be bated four or five hours, or over 
night, at from 60 to 90 degrees Fahr. Skins should be bated 
one to three hours at 75 to 95 degrees Fahr. 

To a certain extent, the procedure with lactic acid differs; 
little whether the hides or skins are to be vegetable or chrome 
tanned or whether (if vegetable tanned) the material be bark 
alone, or extract alone, or a mixture of the two. However, the 
amount of lactic acid to use, and the time of bating, must 
always depend somewhat on what is to be the subsequent: 
treatment of the leather, as it does also on what has been the 
previous treatment, that is, on the liming, whether lime alone, 
lime and sulphide, or sulphide alone has been used. With 
skins and green split hides other varying conditions are also 
introduced. The principle involved, however, is in all cases 
the same ; sufficient lactic acid must be used to neutralize and 
remove all the lime, and sufficient time must be allowed for 
this reaction to take place. A slight excess of acid and cold 
water is used when a plumping effect is desired, and when a 
depleting effect is wanted less lactic acid is employed, in warmer 
water, and older lactic acid bate, or a certain proportion of 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 42 I 

common salt is added. Generally speaking, for skins and 
green split cowhides which are to be chrome-tanned, the de- 
pleting effect is more desirable, and for heavy hides which are 
to be bark-tanned the plumping effect. The general propor- 
tion of lactic acid to use is one pound for every one hundred 
pounds of hides, green weight. It is generally better, especially 
for hides, not to keep them continually agitated, but only suffi- 
ciently so to give the liquor proper circulation and free access 
to all the stock. The lactic acid bate gives heavy splits and 
firm, fine-grained leather. In tanning liquors lactic acid gently 
plumps the stock. In the retanning of splits it quickens the 
penetration and thus shortens the time for retanning. By 
reason of its diffusibility, it acts uniformly throughout the 
hides, causing whatever swelling it may effect to be evenly dis- 
tributed, thus preventing wrinkles and pipey grain. 

TO DYE CHINA GOATSKINS BLACK. 

Chinese goatskins are imported into the United States and 
England tanned and made up into rugs. The process of dye- 
ing such rugs black is an English process, and is carried out 
in the following manner : The quantities of dyeing materials 
are for sixty rugs which are really equivalent to one hundred 
and twenty skins. In a vat of about three hundred and sixty 
gallons capacity, make up a bath of twenty-four pounds con- 
centrated ammonia and thirty-six pounds of common soda, 
previously dissolved. When these have been added to the 
water heat up to 95 degrees Fahr., immerse the rugs for two 
hours, stirring at intervals. Then pull them up and let them 
drain well. 

Dissolve fifty pounds dark turmeric ; boil forty-five pounds 
logwood extract and add them to the bath. Throw the rugs 
in and leave them in the liquor until they rise to the surface. 
Then haul them out and add twenty-five pounds logwood 
extract, ten pounds sumac, ten pounds bluestone (sulphate of 
■copper) five pounds fustic extract, and three pailfuls or about 
sixty pounds acetate of iron ; stir up well and immerse the rugs 



422 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

for eighteen hours, draw them up and expose them to the air 
for twelve hours. Then heat liquor up to the above-mentioned 
temperature and put the skins back for twelve hours more ; 
draw them out of the liquor, hang them in the air for a time,, 
and they are then ready to be washed. 

They should be very thoroughly washed with plenty of clean 
water until all dirt and superfluous dyestufT are removed ; then 
wring them and tack them out to dry. When almost dry, put 
them into a drum with a mixture of silver sand and mahogany 
dust and run them for about four hours, after which they 
should be put into an open slat wheel or cage and be run for 
two hours to clean out the sand and dust and to finish them 
ofif. The latter process, if carried out properly, will be found 
to give an added brilliancy to the fur which cannot be obtained 
in any other way. 

BATING WITH MOLASSES. 

Sour molasses makes an effective bate for hides for heavy 
leather. The molasses is soured by putting seven gallons of it 
into a barrelful of water, adding a gallon of milk to help the 
souring, keeping the mixture at 90 degrees Fahr., and stirring 
occasionally until it is sour. More than one barrel is required 
so that more molasses can be souring while the first is being 
used. 

To use the sour molasses, fill a paddle wheel with enough 
water to cover fifty sides, and add to it eight pailfuls of the 
molasses. The sides remain in the bate at least thirty minutes 
and a few minutes longer will do no harm although there is 
always danger of bating too low. Judgment must, be used as to 
when the hides are bated enough. When the bate becomes 
weakened by the lime which works out of the hides, more sour 
molasses should be added, say six pailfuls to 200 sides. If the 
paddle holds fifty sides put in one and one-half pailfuls of 
molasses after taking out each pack of hides, and keep the 
temperature of the bate at about 80 degrees Fahr. The bate 
should not be made fresh for each lot of hides but molasses 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 423 

should be added to it. When the bating is over, withdraw the 
hides and rinse them in cold water in another paddle wheel for 
a few minutes, and after this has been done put them on sticks 
for the tanning liquors. The bated hides will contain consider- 
able lime, but the first few hours in the liquor will take it all 
out. 

After the liquor has been run through the yard from the head 
handlers to the tail handlers or rockers, the liquor in the tail 
handlers will be very weak, containing less than one per cent, 
of tannic acid, and quite a little lactic and acetic acids, which 
soon takes the lime out of the sides and plumps them. 

A little lactic acid, say three-quarters or a gallon to the pre- 
pared bate liquor, will help considerably in efifecting a removal 
of the lime from the hides. 

BATING WITH DERMIFORMA. 

Dermiforma is a prepared bacterial bate that has been intro- 
duced as a substitute for dung in bating. The methods of 
using described below have proved satisfactory, and the result 
desired has been obtained. 

It should be borne in mind that bacteria are governed by 
different temperatures, and if it is desired to reduce or deplete 
the skins or hides the temperature of the bating Hquor should 
be kept as near as possible to 95 degrees Fahr. during the pro- 
cess. 

Experience has shown that a different grain is obtained at 
different temperatures ; consequently if the liquor is kept at the 
above mentioned heat as nearly as possible during the process 
the skins will be reduced more quickly and the grain will be 
finer. This applies to all classes of stock. The quantity of 
Dermiforma to be used for every hundred pounds of skins varies. 

In the bating of goatskins four pounds are used for each one 
hundred pounds of them to be bated ; the same quantity is 
used in bating calfskins; but sheepskins may be bated with 
two pounds to each one hundred pounds of them ; and the 
same quantity bates hides and kips, while seal skins require 
three pounds of the bate for one hundred pounds of them. 



424 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

It usually requires about four hours to get calf, seal and 
sheepskins in condition to be pickled or tanned. It requires 
good judgment of the operator to know the exact time for the 
bating process ; consequently no general rule can be laid down, 
as some tanners do not bate hides longer than two hours at a 
temperature of 95 degrees Fahr. If it is desired to plump the 
stock, one and one-half pounds of the bate will be sufficient for 
one hundred pounds ; time generally from two to four hours, and 
in some cases where hides are being plumped for sole leather 
they can remain in the bate over night. The temperature 
should be normal or not over 80 degrees Fahr. 

In using Dermiforma in tanning liquors, either sweet or 
natural sour liquors, one and one-half pounds to every one 
hundred pounds of green hides will plump them, and the 
leather will gain in weight. Where extract liquors are used 
entirely the result is greater and the tannage more rapid with 
the above proportions. In all cases the hides must be thor- 
oughly washed from the limes or the proportions given will not 
answer. When excess of free lime is carried into the bating 
process more bate is required. It is said that, with the above 
proportions, Dermiforma will completely delime hides and 
skins more quickly than any other process known. 

Bating should always be done in a vat with paddles and not 
in a stationary tub, as the action of the paddles causes the 
liquor to be agitated, thus more quickly accomplishing the de- 
liming and neutralizing of the skins. A warm bate depletes or 
reduces the goods ; a cold bate plumps them. When deliming 
is complete and the skins are soft and silky to the touch they 
should be removed from the bath, rinsed in warm water or not, 
according to their condition, and then be either pickled or 
tanned. Skins are most satisfactorily bated in warm liquor 
while for hides for heavy leather, in which plumpness and 
weight are essential, a moderately cold bate is best. 

THE BRAN DRENCH. 
Any tanner who wants to use a bran drench upon his skins 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 425 

will find the following process satisfactory : Add enough water 
to a half barrelful of bran to make it mushy ; cover it up and 
let it stand forty-eight hours, or until it has become thoroughly 
sour. This quantity of bran is sufficient for from four hundred 
to five hundred skins, according to their size and thickness. 
The sour bran is emptied into a suitable vat half filled with water 
and having a paddle-wheel. Three pints of sulphuric acid and 
three pecks of common salt are then added and the mixture is 
plunged and heated to 90 degrees Fahr. Throw the skins in as 
quickly as possible and keep the paddle running for four hours 
or longer until the goods are soft, clean and well drenched. 
Light, thin skins of course require less drenching than thick, 
heavy ones. If they are to be colored, it is advisable to work 
the grain out as clean as possible, and then to rinse them in warm 
water and pickle them. For black leather the working out can 
be omitted, they being simply rinsed and pickled. The drench 
can also be prepared by using the following proportions: Soak 
fifty pounds of bran in warm water until sour. Then stir the 
mass into seven hundred gallons of water in a paddle vat and 
add ten pounds of sulphuric acid. Plunge the drench thor- 
oughly, warm it to 90 degrees Fahr., throw the skins in, and 
bate them until they are soft and clean and free from lime. 
Then work the grain out as clean as possible, rinse the skins, 
and pickle them. Either of these processes will drench them 
in a safe and satisfactory manner. 

A tliird method of preparing a bran drench is as follows : 
Two hundred pounds of bran are used for six hundred or more 
skins. The temperature of the bath should be about 90 de- 
grees Fahr. One-half of the bran is put into the water and 
stirred well. Then one-half of the skins are put in, having pre- 
viously lain a few hours in warm water, and the liquor is thor- 
oughly stirred. The balance of the bran is next put in and 
then the remaining skins. The bran ferments ; and to this fer- 
mentation is due the deliming of the skins. The length of time 
consumed by the process depends upon the amount of lime in 
the skins and upon the development of the drench. This last 
method is less safe than either the first or second. 



426 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

BATING WITH DOG DUNG. 

If dog manure be kept for some time, it will become heated 
of itself, burn up and become useless. Consequently it is 
placed in barrels, covered over with enough water to soften it, 
and then allowed to ferment for at least two weeks, or until it 
has resolved itself into a pasty condition. It can in this way 
be kept for months in covered barrels without losing any of its 
bating action. 

When it is to be used, it is stirred into boiling hot water (by 
this means a great many of the bacteria are killed but not the 
spores) until after decanting off several times all of the soluble 
matter has been removed and only waste material remains 
behind. But all sand must be allowed to settle out again from 
the liquor, since if any is allowed to remain, it is likely to injure 
the grain ; this settling takes place to the best advantage in a 
large vat. 

For lOO pieces of calfskins it is customary to reckon about 
10 to 12 quarts of dog dung; while for 30 dozen sheepskins, 
about 50 pounds of manure are used ; and for 1000 pieces of 
young lambskins from 10 to 12 liters of the diluted infusion are 
sufficient. The proper amount of the bate is placed in the 
paddle wheel and diluted with the necessary quantity of water. 
At the beginning, the temperature of the bating liquor should 
be between 20° and 35° C. (68° to 95° Fahr.) according to the 
kind of skins and the season of the year. The pelts should re- 
main in the bate for from two to three hours, or at the most 
until the flesh remaining on them can be readily removed. It 
is injurious to bate the skins for too long a time. 

After bating with dung, it is best to rinse ofT the skins and 
then at once place them on the beam or fleshing machine. By 
placing them in fresh water, on the other hand, the flesh be- 
comes tender and is not removed as readily as when it is in the 
mellow condition in which it comes from the bate ; consequently 
as httle water as possible is used so that as little as possible of 
the mellowness is lost. 

In the process of dung bating it is easily possible that unde- 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 427 

sirable fermentations take place which are injurious to the 
skins. The duration of the bating in a normal case should oc- 
cupy a definite time which is regulated by the temperature^ 
concentration and texture of the hides as well as by the degree 
of fermentation which the bate has experienced. — Joseph 
Jettmar. 

BATING WITH A COMBINATION BATE. 

Dog manure and bran used together make a better bate than 
either material used alone, but such a combination bate re- 
quires careful preparation, exact proportions to be maintained,, 
and close attention while the skins are being bated. For soft 
stock one part of manure and two parts of bran are used ; for 
hard goods, equal parts of each. The dry manure is stirred 
into cold water, and after adding the bran, the mixture is 
allowed to ferment thoroughly, which takes only a few hours. 
It is then strained, and after adding a few ounces of bicarbonate 
of soda dissolved in water, it is stirred into warm water in a vat 
and the skins are bated in the liquor. The use of this bate 
saves time and material and accomplishes thorough bating. It 
is an old process and has been superseded by cleaner and safer 
methods. 

If the skins are to be tanned with bark it is best to allow the 
fermentation to take place in a warm liquid. One part manure 
and ten parts bran start the fermentation. The bran is mixed 
with warm water, and the manure is stirred into the mush. 
The mixture may be allowed to stand until it is fermented, or 
it may be diluted with warm water in the vat and the skins 
placed at once in it. Another way is to make an infusion of 
the dung and mix it with fermented bran. This bate is a com- 
promise between a manure and a bran bate. The quantity of 
manure required is reduced from one-half to one-third of the 
usual amount; there is less odor and less danger of the bad 
effects which frequently result from ordinary manure bating. 

PROCESS FOR MAKING GRAIN LEATHER FROM SPLITS. 
The splits should be run through a borax bath in a drum. 



428 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Five pounds of borax dissolved will be enough for twenty-five 
splits, medium size and weight. Have water, six gallons, 
heated to 75 degrees Fahr., and run twenty-five minutes. 
Then make a bath of sulphuric acid, say about eight gallons, 
and have it as sour as a lemon. Drum the splits in this for 
fifteen minutes, then rinse them off in clear cold water. Run 
in plenty of clear cold water until the acid is all soaked out of 
the splits, and then fat-liquor them. 

To fat-liquor the splits use any good soap and oil fat-liquor 
that is suitable for vegetable-tanned leather, and run them 
in it thirty minutes. Then horse them up to drain, after 
which slick hard on both sides, and glass on split side. Oil 
with linseed oil ; than hang them up or tack out to dry. 
When dry, they are ready to be colored black or brown or any 
other color that is wanted. After they are colored and dry, 
they are ready for the moss or linseed solution. A good 
dressing is made from equal parts glue and gelatine. Apply 
when warm but be sure and not have it too thick. Care should 
be taken to spread it on evenly. The dressing is then allowed 
to dry ; and the splits are now ready to be embossed either in 
imitation of some grain, or plain. This is a very necessary 
operation, and the machine used for the purpose is from four 
to six feet in width. 

After embossing, the embossed side is given a coat of water- 
proof filling which is made of wax and rosin dissolved in tur- 
pentine, and the splits are then done. 

TO DYE COLORED LEATHER BLACK. 

The following process is said to be a good method of re-dye- 
ing leather that has been colored and the tanner wants to refin- 
ish into black. Put the leather into a mill and run it in warm 
water for at least one- half hour to remove the finish and to 
prepare it to receive the dye. Now, for each dozen skins of 
medium size or eight small sides dissolve four to eight ounces 
of permanganate of potash crystals in six gallons of warm 
water and drum the leather in the solution fifteen minutes ; 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 429 

then dissolve from twelve ounces to one pound of logwood 
crystals in ten gallons of hot water and add this solution to the 
potash solution and skins in the drum, and run the drum one-half 
hour. Now dissolve one ounce of copperas and blue vitriol 
and cool; then pour this solution into the drum and drum ten 
minutes. Next wash the leather in clear running water for at 
least fifteen minutes. The leather is now ready to be set out 
and dried. It must always be thoroughly washed, and the grain 
should be liberally oiled with a mixture of paraflfine and cod or 
neatsfoot oils before it is dried out. 

PRACTICAL DRUM PROCESS FOR VEGETABLE-TANNED SKINS. 

This process is based on a long known principle, viz., a pre- 
liminary tanning with alum and salt as a preparation for tan- 
ning with vegetable tanning material. But the manipulation of 
the process as here described is new, as is also the further 
treatment after the introductory work, by means of which var- 
ious drawbacks hitherto present in combined tannage are elim- 
inated and certain advantages gained. 

The process is as follows : The skins are limed, bated and 
drenched in the regular manner and then put into a weak liquor 
of bark or extract and left therein until they have assumed a 
fine and uniform color. It is best to suspend them in the 
liquor until they are colored. They are then thoroughly 
washed in a drum, then given the preliminary tanning, also in 
the drum, drumming being continued for one hour. This pre- 
liminary tanning is done with alum and salt. For each hun- 
dred pounds of skins ten pounds of alum, six pounds of 
common salt and eight gallons of water are used. After drum- 
ming, the skins are allowed to remain in the solution for a few 
hours, when they are rinsed with clean water and neutralized by 
being placed in a bath made up in the proportion of two pounds 
of borax in twenty gallons of water for one hundred pounds of 
them. In this solution of borax they are washed in a drum 
fifteen minutes ; they are then washed in clear water and are 
next placed smoothly over horses to drain over night when 



430 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

they are in condition for the tanning proper, which is effected 
in a drum. The liquor can be made up of any suitable extract 
or a mixture of extracts, such as quebracho, quermos, hemlock 
and gambier, or combinations of quebracho and hemlock, or of 
quebracho and palmetto, or of oak and hemlock extracts. As, 
by reason of the preliminary treatment, no shrinkage of the 
grain is to be feared, the liquor may be comparatively strong. 
The first liquor may be 1^2 to 2 degrees Baume, increased 
afterwards to 3 degrees. Strengthening of the liquors must be 
done quickly, since the tannin is rapidly absorbed. The com- 
plete tanning is generally finished within a few hours. When 
the skins are tanned, they are washed, split and shaved as they 
may require, and are then dried, or fat-liquored and dried, and 
finally colored and finished in the usual ways. Some tannages 
are improved by a retanning in warm sumac liquor as soon as 
the tanning proper is finished. A liquor made up of two-thirds 
quebracho and one-third hemlock extracts is recommended for 
this process. The advantages of this method of drum tanning 
are as follows : The preliminary tanning causes a certain 
amount of swelling, and the skins to become more absorbent. 
The grain gains in resisting power through the contracting 
effect of the vegetable tan liquor, so that the pores remain 
open and the tanning material penetrates more rapidly. The 
internal condition of the skins produced by the preliminary 
tanning favors the action of the drumming, which causes the 
strong liquor to penetrate again and again into every part. 
This advantage is still further increased in this method by 
treating the skins in a weak vegetable tan liquor previous to 
the alum bath, which also sets the grain and removes the last 
traces of lime from the goods as well as tending to a finer color 
and smoother grain. 

Sulphate of alumina may be used in place of alum with the 
same result. By removing the alumina from the skins every 
trace of acid or soluble salt is eliminated and all the advantages 
of the preliminary tanning are secured without incurring the 
disadvantages that result from it not being removed. When 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 43 I 

alum and salt remain in the skins free acid is formed in the tan 
liquor which acts injuriously on the substance of the leather. 
This method of tanning consists in neutralizing the skins after 
tanning with alum or sulphate of alumina which largely elimi- 
nates the fault mentioned. But even if the acid is made harm- 
less the salt remains, which causes deterioration in the quality 
of the leather and makes it loose and less waterproof than is 
desirable. By removing the salts completely and washmg and 
neutralizing the skins so that every trace of acid and soluble 
salt is removed they are brought into perfect condition for tan- 
ning with vegetable tanning liquor and for making firm yet soft 
and durable leather. By first treating skins with alum and salt 
subsequent tanning is hastened, but, as has been pointed out, 
the alum and salt should be neutralized and washed away if 
the best quaiit)^ of leather is to result from the drum tanning 
with extracts. 

THE DONGOLA PROCESS. 

The dongola process consists of gambler, alum and salt. It 
can be used in tanning skins or heavy hides, and it makes 
soft, plump, well tanned leather. A good dongola liquor is 
made in the following manner: In one hundred gallons of 
water forty pounds of alum and thirty pounds of salt are dis- 
solved by boiling. One hundred and eighty pounds of gambler 
are boiled in two hundred and fifty gallons of water until dis- 
solved, and the alum and salt solution and the gambler liquor 
are mixed together in a vat or tub. By the addition of one 
hundred gallons of water and one quart of sulphuric acid a 
good, strong dongola liquor is made. 

Hides or skins may be tanned in this liquor and made into 
very desirable leather. When the stock is fully tanned, it is 
washed and pressed, and then given some oil or fat-liquor in a 
drum. Three gallons of neatsfoot oil or the same quantity of 
cod oil cut with borax may be used for three hundred pounds 
of leather. Sulphonated oil may also be employed or any 
suitable fat-liquor. When the leather is dry it may be damp- 



432 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

ened and colored, or dyed black and finished in dull or glaze. 
A gambier liquor of about four degrees barkometer strength is 
prepared and to it are added ten pounds of salt and six pounds 
of alum for every one hundred gallons. This liquor should 
be strengthened each day until the skins are well tanned, which 
can be easily ascertained by the tanner. 

The process can also be used as a two-bath process by start- 
ing the tanning in a liquor of gambier, alum and salt and fin- 
ishing in a straight gambier liquor. The hides or skins are 
limed and bated and are then pickled with sulphuric acid and 
salt, after which they are placed in the tan liquor. A gambier 
liquor of about six degrees strength is prepared and to it are 
added ten pounds of alum and seven pounds of salt to each 
one hundred gallons of liquor. Hides should remain in this 
liquor three days, it being strengthened every day; they 
are then drained and split. Skins remain in the liquor less 
time than hides according to their thickness. 

The second liquor should be a straight gambier solution. 
The tanner must use his judgment in determining the strength 
of this liquor. For hides it may be 1 8 or 20 degrees barkom- 
eter and they should remain in it three days, when they are 
drained, fat-liquored with oil and hung up to dry. When dry 
they are stuffed with oil and degras, blacked on the grain,^ 
dried and finished. 

Light skins may be fat-liquored with oil and soap or with 
sulphonated oil, dried, grain-blacked, and finished. They can 
also be treated with oil immediately after tanning, dried and 
colored, and then fat-liquored with a regular fat-liquor, dried 
again, and then finished. 

Tanning can also be done by drumming the skins in an alum 
and salt solution and then tanning them with gambier. 

Light skins can be tanned into soft dongola leather by being 
tanned in a liquor of gambier, alum and salt and then fat- 
liquored with a fat-liquor containing flour and egg yolk. This 
makes excellent glove leather. The skins, if they have been 
pickled with acid and salt, should be neutralized and then 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 433 

washed in warm salt water before they are tanned. Tanning- 
can also be done with gambler liquor containing flour, egg yolk 
and a little neatsfoot oil. No fat-liquoring is then necessary. 
Or the tanning can be done with gambler, alum and salt, and 
the skins subsequently fat-liquored with sulphonated oil, dried, 
and colored. 

A process of tanning hides in a dongola or combination tan- 
nage is described in Schuh and Leder in the following words : 
The beamhouse work is conducted similarly to other upper 
leathers, and is generally hurried as much as possible with 
arsenic. After the hides have been bated and washed they are 
pickled with sulphuric acid and salt. A medium sized paddle 
wheel is filled half full of water; twenty pounds of sulphuric 
acid and seventy-five pounds of common salt are added, and 
the whole is set in motion a short time to properly mix. The 
given quantity is sufficient for 1,000 pounds of stock. The 
hides or skins are run in this liquor three hours and then allowed 
to drain for a few hours. 

Tanning is now commenced and is accomplished as follows : 

For 1,000 pounds of hides or skins, sixty pounds of gambler, 
sixty pounds of palmetto extract and fifty pounds of quebracho 
extract are dissolved in sufficient water to make a rather thin 
liquor. In a separate vessel twenty-five pounds of chrome alum 
and thirty-five pounds of salt are dissolved, and the whole ar- 
ranged so as to produce forty pailfuls of Hquor. Tanning is 
effected in the paddle wheel, and if a fresh liquor is used five 
pounds of sulphuric acid must first be added, then five pailfuls of 
the extract each morning and evening. On the fourth day the 
first part of the tanning is ended. Good results are also ob- 
tained by hanging the hides in the liquor. After the first part 
of the tannage the leather is washed, then pressed and split and 
shaved. 

For the retannage which now follows, six pailfuls of strong 

liquor are given for each one hundred pounds of split leather 

and the latter is run in the wheel from two to three hours, then 

washed and pressed again, but this time only to a certain de- 

28 



434 PRACTICAl- TANNING. 

gree. If it is pressed too dry it will absorb too much grease, 
and if it is left too wet sufficient grease cannot enter. For one 
hundred pounds of pressed leather fifteen to eighteen pounds 
of grease must be figured. For stuffiing, seven pounds of 
moellon degras, four pounds of tallow and five pounds of paraf- 
fin oil are recommended, and in this mixture the leather is run 
one-half hour. After the stock has been dried it is soaked 
again and then set out on both the grain and flesh sides. The 
leather is then dampened in sawdust and staked. A good 
blacking is applied and the finishing is done to suit. The 
writer would add that doubtless any good fat-liquor can be ap- 
plied to the leather, and after a retanning with sumac, colored 
leather can be made by applying the proper dye. 

THE USE OF BORAX IN THE TANNERY. 

Borax was used by the Egyptians in tanning their bright 
colored leather with both vegetable and mineral tannins. It 
was also used by the Romans in leather manufacture. The 
utility of borax in the manufacture of leather has long been 
recognized, and it is now to a great extent supplanting soda in 
all its forms in the modern methods of the tannery and curry- 
ing shop. It is not only economical but efTective in producing 
the very highest class of goods, imparting to leather a smooth, 
silklike finish. 

Tanners are learning that there is no one material, ingredient 
or chemical that possesses so much all-round usefulness for 
them as borax. It has wholesome, sweetening and disinfectant 
properties, and in the prevention of formation of bacterial 
organisms it is of use in the process of soaking. One of the 
first things to be considered is the quality of the water. In 
addition to hardness, many waters, while apparently pure, are 
infected with microbes, ferments and germs of both vegetable 
and animal origin to such an extent as to render them entirely 
unfit for soaking purposes without the addition of some good 
antiseptic. 

For this purpose borax is of value. It is safe, pure and in- 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 435 

expensive. When used in soaking dry hides, borax cleanses 
the dirt from the hair, softens up the grease which has dried on 
the grain and forces the water into the body of the hide more 
quickly than salt or any other known substance. In the soak- 
ing and cleaning of green salted hides before liming it has no 
equal. 

Borax not only prevents the formation of chalk of lime, but 
by its use the grain of the hide or skin is made soft and silky 
allowing the hair and scurf to be readily removed. By its use 
in the rinse water, a large amount of lime is removed, and the 
green stock needs then but little drenching to remove the re- 
maining lime. Borax in the rinse water and boracic acid for a 
drench make a combination that insures an even run of raw 
hide, that will produce leather of soft, mellow grain, with full 
bellies and flanks, and that will not pipe. 

Frequently, in using soft water for rinsing hides or skins, the 
addition of borax proves beneficial, since soft waters are often 
charged with carbolic acid, which in a great measure produces 
the same efifect on the grain as when a limed skin is exposed to 
the air. In the manufacture of upper leather, as well as in that 
of sole or rough leather, reducing in a drench made from borax 
is best for cleansing the hide from sulphide of sodium and lime. 
Borax is useful in the soaks to all tanners of wool and fur skins. 
It not only cleanses the wool and fur and softens the skin itself, 
but it also prevents the slipping of the hair in spots. Some of 
the costly fur skins are of an extremely oily nature and hereto- 
fore many have been lost or damaged in the soaking. By the 
use of borax this is prevented. It cuts the grease, removes the 
blood and lymph, and turns the skins out in a clean and healthy 
condition. By its use many a skin is being saved that other- 
wise would be lost. It can be used just as successfully in the 
preparation of wool skins for the pulling process. Too much 
cannot be said in favor of washing chrome-tanned leather with 
borax to free it from acid. If the stock is not properly washed 
there is trouble all around. Strong alkalies make the leather 
hard and rubbery, and cause difficulty in the dyeing, in putting 



436 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

out and all through the finishing room. Bicarbonate of soda is- 
used for the purpose, and it frequently happens that the neutra- 
lization is uneven or the process is carried too far. Borax is as 
safe and sure a neutralizing material as is known. It removes 
the acid and leaves the grain soft and silky and open for the 
coloring and seasoning processes. In the dye bath it gives a 
lively color on any class of goods, and stops any running of the 
dye, and on account of its making a color fast it is taken ad- 
vantage of by manufacturers of shoe dressings. 

In bleaching chrome-tanned stock, borax will not disturb the 
tannage, but it thoroughly removes the acid and leaves the 
stock in a full, smooth condition, and of a nice white tint that 
does not discolor when exposed to the air. 

The bleaching properties of borax are being taken advantage 
of in the shoe factory for preventing water stains and for bleach- 
ing soles. By using a small amount of it in the water for wet- 
ting the sole, the surface is opened, allowing the water to pene- 
trate evenly and a clear uniformly colored bottom is produced. 
The sole is made flexible and chipping of the edges is pre- 
vented. Another important point is that the soles are put into 
condition to readily absorb stains. 

In addition to the various uses that have been named, borax 
is employed in the preparation of fat-liquors and logwood 
liquors. The latter produces the best result when it is slightly 
alkaline; and to make it so nothing is better than borax. 

TANNING WITH PALMETTO EXTRACT. 

Palmetto extract may be employed in tanning many different 
kinds of leather, either alone and in combination with other ex- 
tracts, but it is chiefly used in the manufacture of soft leathers 
and in retanning. The principal characteristics of palmetto ex- 
tract are great penetrability and desirable color. It produces 
soft, tough, pliable leather of good weight and color like oak. 
The advantages of palmetto extract over gambier are that it 
tans more quickly, gives greater weight, plumper leather, stands 
a higher temperature in stuffing and varnishing, and in a few 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 437 

hours produces from raw skins leather that is tough and quite 
waterproof. It is good to use in drum tanning ; it tans ordi- 
nary skins in a few hours. It is also useful in combination with 
chrome tanning, neutralizing the acid, causing the leather to 
take grease better and acting as a mordant for black and ani- 
line coloring, and also making the grain less rough and loose 
than any other chrome combination tannage. When palmetto 
■extract is used the leather is smooth and takes a nice color. 
For black leather, it is a good mordant, the color being im- 
proved in consequence of it. Some tanners of chrome leather 
give their stock a treatment with vegetable extract in dilute 
form before blacking; palmetto extract is excellent for this pur- 
pose. 

Good results are obtained from the use of palmetto extract 
in the retanning of splits tanned with hemlock, quebracho, oak, 
etc. Combined with quebracho extract, it makes fine upper 
leather. Any tanner who knows how to tan with gambler, 
hemlock or quebracho will have no trouble in using palmetto 
extract. 

From the chemical point of view, palmetto extract is not as 
high in percentage of tannin as some other extracts, yet those 
who have used it claim that it contains more available tannin 
to its tannin content than any other material. On account of 
its natural mineral properties, palmetto, in extract form, pos- 
sesses great fluidity, and in the drum tannage, where best re- 
sults are obtained, it can be used the full strength of 30 de- 
grees Beaume. The hides or skins take up the non-tannin as 
well as the tannin, so that there is no waste of material what- 
ever. With palmetto extract calfskins can be tanned in from 
three to six hours, and other skins in a correspondingly short 
time. Sides split out of lime can be tanned in four or five 
hours, depending upon how thick they are. 

Palmetto extract is made from the roots of the saw palmetto 
(Sabal serrulata) which grows abundantly along the eastern 
coast of Florida and in fact all over the entire state. The ex- 
tract contains on an average 22 per cent, organic tanning ma- 



438 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

terial and 6 per cent, inorganic or mineral tannage, or in all 
about 28 per cent, of that active principle which combines with 
raw hide to make leather. The roots of the saw palmetto, 
which range in size from four to six inches in diameter, con- 
tain 8.3 per cent, tannin. They grow horizontally, mostly on 
the surface of the ground, and are easily dug, and can be had 
for the getting, the owners of the land being glad to have it 
cleared. The roots are cut into four foot lengths, measured 
the same as cordvvood, put through a bark cutting machine, 
then leached the same as oak and hemlock bark. The result- 
ing liquor is concentrated in vacuo to extract of 50 degrees 
Twaddle, when the product is ready for the tanner. 

Palmetto, unlike oak and hemlock bark, can be gathered the 
year around, and the tannic acid strength seems to be uniform,, 
the season for gathering making no difiference. 

Besides its usefulness in tanning upper leathers, palmetto 
extract could be used to good advantage in the first stages of 
tanning sole leather, especially for union crop, or for any leather 
where a light color is required. For, when employed in the 
first stages of tanning to set the color, although heavy hem- 
lock liquors may be used afterward that would naturally make 
the leather very dark, the light palmetto color will reappear 
after a light bleach or wash is used, and give the leather a fine, 
light shade. 

Tough, durable harness, line, belt and strap leathers can be 
made with palmetto extract. The work of preparing the hides 
is the same as for any other tanning process. Lime and sul- 
phide of sodium are used for about five days, then the hides are 
unhaired by machine and fine-haired by hand. They are next 
bated and washed, then tanned. They go into tan liquor for 
six days in a section of liquor beginning with 12 degrees bark- 
ometer and ending with 20 degrees. Too many of them should 
not be put into the weakest liquor or they will color unevenly. 
From the weak liquors where they were suspended on sticks the 
hides are put into full strength palmetto liquor 30 degrees Be. ( 50 
degrees Twaddle). They should be handled twice the first day 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 439 

SO that the tanning material may fasten evenly. After six days 
the leather is tanned through ; it is then aired, shaved and split. 
After shaving it is put into weak palmetto liquor, 12 degrees 
barkometer, and finished in a 30 degree liquor, being wheeled for 
six hours or until thoroughly tanned. In order to keep the color 
light and the grain tender the leather is fat-liquored with soap and 
degras, then dried out. Harness and belt leathers are stuffed with 
stearine at 140 degrees Fahr., after they are dried out from the 
fat-liquor. This process makes plump leather of good grain 
and color, tough and durable. For 440 pounds of pressed 
leather, the fat-liquor referred to is made of five pounds of fat- 
liquor soap and nine pints of moellon degras in one-half barrel 
full of water, steamed to 120 degrees Fahr. 

A good way to tan calfskins and the grains of split hides is to 
lime and bate them as for gambier, chrome or combination tan- 
nage, then to put them into a 3 or 4 degree barkometer liquor, in- 
creasing this to 7 or 8 degrees. Then keep increasing the strength 
of the liquor by doubling until the leather is tanned through. 
It may then be put away in sour liquor for six days to swell, 
when it is washed, pressed, shaved, fat-liquored with soap and 
degras, and dried. When dry, it can be colored and finished 
in any desired manner. 

In drum tanning the skins are started in cold 8 degree barkom- 
eter liquor, reeled in a vat half an hour, then put into the drum 
with 30 degree liquor, or 450 pounds of extract for 700 pounds 
of them at a temperature of 80 degrees Fahr. At the end of six 
hours the leather is pressed, spHt, shaved, and retanned in the 
drum. It is now washed, pressed and fat-liqnored, struck out 
and hung up to dry, when it is ready to be dyed or colored and 
finished in any desired manner. Retanning with sumac is bene- 
ficial for colored leather. 

To retan chrome leather with palmetto extract, one gallon of 
it and one pint of glycerine are used for one hundred pounds 
of wet stock. The leather is drummed in the liquor, of which 
there should be twelve gallons, for twenty minutes, then drained 
and colored with aniline dye. 



440 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

TANNING WITH CHESTNUT EXTRACT. 

Chestnut extract, prepared with care, is practically a pure 
solution of chestnut wood tannin, rich in tanning power per 
unit of density and soluble to a high degree. It will form 
liquors free from sediment or liquor-fifth, well balanced in 
tannin and non-tannin for oak and hemlock yards, and fitted 
for the business of tanning hide-fiber with thoroughness and 
celerity. 

The successful use of chestnut extract, as well as that of any 
other process capable of various applications is based upon 
general principles which may be briefly stated thus : Chestnut 
extract is midway between oak and hemlock in souring quali- 
ties ; hence it acts beneficially in both yards. The hemlock 
tanner fighting for acid in his sour end, gets it by chestnut 
admixture; the oak tanner combating excess sour in his hand- 
lers controls conditions by chestnut in his head liquors. 

Chestnut extract should for color reasons be well incorpo- 
rated with the leach liquors. Its natural color is brown, which 
the extract manufacturer modifies towards red by treatment. 
Mix as much as 75 per cent, with the head leach liquors, and 
the bark color will dominate. Tan the stock in chestnut alone 
and the color will be " on the brown." This is the secret, and 
the only secret, regarding color in the use of chestnut extract. 
Put it on the head leach (through the sprinklers, or a little at a 
time as the leach fills with bark), and take down the liquors in 
the time-honored manner, making the draw of the desired 
barkometer average. As the yard becomes saturated with the 
chestnut, several things will be observed — the packs will feed 
more rapidly, they will " stand up " higher, and the plumpness 
put into the stock in the sours will hold up to the rolling 
room. This is because the liquors sent to the stock are richer 
in tannin per unit of barkometer, without an increase of the 
liquor-fifth which impedes entrance of the tannin into the fiber 
of the stock. Leather is made in the beamhouse and the sour 
end of the yard ; most anything can be done to it if proper 
beam treatment and plumpness are parts of its record, so long 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 44 1 

as it is fed. After the handler period is past, the stock should 
enter the heavier liquors in the state of plumpness and grain 
wanted in the finished state, and from that point forward it 
should be struck steadily and persistently, with such frequent 
shifting as will keep the feeding process continuous. 

The function of chestnut extract is thus made clear : It is a 
tanning agent pure and simple, with souring properties halfway 
between hemlock and oak, aiding the handlers in one, and re- 
straining them in the other. No other extract possesses this 
unique feature. The amount of combined tannin which can be 
put into a hide depends almost wnolly upon the degree in 
which the initial plumpness is retained during the passage of 
the stock through the true tanning liquors, those beyond the 
handlers. If these liquors are clean, and grade up from 20 
degrees barkometer in the first layer to 50 to 60 degrees in 
the last, the combining process will proceed uniformly and 
steadily, flanks will be full and firm, the cut will show as much 
color from the one side as the other, and the " white streak " 
vvill be firm and plump. Such leather has good market quali- 
ties, and also has more room for finishing material and a larger 
area of hide-fiber to take the tannin. Chestnut extract pro- 
motes exactly these conditions, with, at the same time, a bene- 
ficial efTect on the sour end of the yard. 

There are various ways of using this extract. By some it is 
put directly on the leaches, and there allowed to dissolve and 
percolate through the ground bark. The chief advantage 
claimed for this is that the disagreeable bluish-gray color on 
the stock is avoided. Other tanners dissolve the extract in a 
separate tank and then run it on the leaches through the 
sprinklers. Some prefer to dissolve the extract separately, 
then mixing the solution with bark liquors as they come from 
the leach house. These methods, however, are not the latest 
nor the most approved ones, practical experiments having 
proved that chestnut extract is most successfully used along 
other lines, which may be described as follows: 

The hides are first soaked and then washed in a paddle 



442 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

"wheel. After unhairing, they are well worked on the grain, then 
left hanging over night in the old water pool, to which a certain 
quantity of commercial lactic acid has been added. For ordi- 
nary packs forty pounds will be sufficient As they are thus 
plumped, and the fixed lime being also neutralized, the ordinar}^ 
time in the handlers may, with safety, be materially reduced. 
Coming from the cold water pool, they should again be washed 
on the grain before going to the liquors. The green pack is 
given a week in the handlers, which are soured to the proper 
degree by the addition of lactic acid. The hides go from the 
handlers through the first two layers, after which they are run 
through a roller press and are then ready for the drumming 
process. 

The extract is poured into hot water, and the solution run 
on the stock through the gudgeon at about i6 degrees barko- 
meter. At first the drum is revolved slowly. The two essentials 
at this stage of the process are the maintenance of the liquor 
strength and keeping the stock comparatively cool. After 
running until the hides become warm, they should be with- 
drawn for a sufficient time to cool. During thisdnterval the old 
drum liquors are run to the handlers and new liquor is supplied 
to the drums. 

After the leather is thoroughly tanned, weight is given by 
putting it in a drum with a certain amount of undissolved 
extract and then run long enough to have it take up the 
extract. It is then finished the same as usual. One of the 
advantages of the drum system is that entirely sweet liquors 
can thus be given to the stock, since the natural resistance of 
the fiber to the penetrating power of the tannin is overcome by 
the attendant agitation. However, it can readily be seen that 
the old drum liquors sent to the handlers will not contain a 
sufficient amount of free acids, other than tannin, requisite for 
the holding of the proper plumpness of the hides; hence it is 
necessary to add lactic acid to the handlers in order that the 
proper relations of the acids may be maintained. As there is 
an absence of natural lactic acid, best results will be obtained 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 443 

by adding the commercial article to the head handler liquor in 
the proportion of one pound of lactic acid to every one hun- 
dred pounds of hides, green weight. Besides adding to the 
head handler liquor, it is advisable to add lactic acid to the 
other handlers half way down the series, in amounts growing 
smaller from the head liquor. 

Chestnut extract is a valuable tanning material for the tanner 
of heav}^ leather. Its tannin is so easily available that it is one 
of the most acceptable on the market. Light skins, prepared 
as for any other tannage, may be tanned by suspension in 
chestnut liquor or drummed in liquor made direct from the 
extract or a mixture of two extracts. Skins intended to be 
colored subsequent to tanning are usually tanned direct in the 
extract liquor, with occasionally a re-tan in sumac. Stock to 
be run in the natural color is usually struck in the mixture, 
giving the shade desired. With very thin leathers the main 
requirement of the tanning material is that it shall be clean,, 
bright and quick in action. Light hides for side leathers are 
first put through a series of sour liquors, in which they are 
plumped. The liquors are prepared by direct solution of the 
extract in water or freshly-made bark liquor ; thus prepared 
they are given sweet to the nearly struck goods, usually as lay- 
aways, not infrequently in revolving drums. These stocks are 
always tanned out in relatively weak liquors, rarely exceeding 
15 degrees barkometer, as freshly prepared. Tanning is then 
completed in drums. Where a particular color quality is de- 
sired the leather is retanned with suitable material, such as 
palmetto, gambler, mimosa, quebracho, sumac, etc., according- 
to the shade or color condition sought. 

TANNING WITH QUEBRACHO EXTRACT. 

Quebracho extract is at present used by many classes of 
tanners, by those of sheepskins as v^^ell as by those of sole and 
other heavy leathers. 

On calfskins, sheepskins and upper leather, quebracho ex- 
tract is an admirable substitute for the higher priced gambler, 



444 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

producing fine grain, soft texture and firm feel. On patent 
leather it gives a pliability which prevents cracking after the 
varnish is put on. On bag and strap leather it makes the light 
color that is necessary for dyeing with aniline colors. On har- 
ness and belting stock it produces the tensile strength and 
toughness which are necessary, and it enables the leather to 
carry all the grease required. On sole leather it decreases the 
time necessary for giving good gains, and makes more mellow 
stock than a straight bark tannage. In fact some sole leather 
tanners are using quebracho to give them extra weight, for 
experience seems to have demonstrated that, owing to its pecu- 
liar concentration, it will penetrate hides already well tanned. 

The quebracho tree grows in the central part of the Argen- 
tine Republic, and is one of the hardest woods known. It is 
most difficult to cut, and derives its name ("Quebrar" — to 
break — " ache " — an axe) from the fact that the best axes go 
to pieces in cutting down the trees. The trees are of extremel}' 
slow growth, and logs such as are shipped to the United States 
and Europe for purposes of making extract are often a thou- 
sand years old. The heaviest machinery is required for cutting 
this wood up into a form suitable for extraction, and owing to 
its great weight the handling of quebracho logs, which often 
weigh two or three tons each, is both difficult and dangerous. 
The bark of the tree is useless for tanning purposes, and, to- 
gether with the sap-wood, is removed before the logs are ready 
for shipment. 

The extract made from the wood of the quebracho tree is 
different from all other known tanning extracts, chiefly in the 
fact that it will not turn sour. In addition to this it is a com- 
paratively clean extract, that is to say, it contains a higher 
percentage of tan to a given density than any other of the well 
known extracts. Inasmuch as it has little or no tendency to 
fermentation, quebracho is extremely useful for controlling the 
acid in tan yards that tend to go sour. On the other hand, if 
it is used in yards where considerable acid is needed, care must 
be taken to prevent the sweetening up of the liquors by the use 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 445 

of too much of it. This is obviated by the use of artificial acid 
or, as in Europe, by the employment of other tannins which 
contain a large proportion of other materials. 

Quebracho, being a sweet tan, is not itself a plumper, and 
if used on leather which has not been properly plumped is apt 
to quickly tan the outside of the hides and thereby prevent the 
penetration of the tan to the inside. This results in cracky 
leather not properly filled. If, however, hides are plumped 
before going into quebracho liquor, this material will pene- 
trate, fill and produce tough, pliable stock of light color. 

A very important point to be observed in using quebracho 
extract is, that it should be dissolved properly. Solid extract 
needs to be boiled up in hot water, in a tub containing a false 
screen bottom which prevents it from adhering to a solid sur- 
face. The liquid extract should be dissolved in water standing 
at 180 degrees Fahr. The resulting solutions from both grades 
of extract, should then be stirred well and allowed to cool 
down gradually before being used. It is a great mistake to 
run hot quebracho liquor into cold vat liquors, or in fact 
to suddenly chill any extract liquor. Such sediment as re- 
mains in the cooling tub may be worked up with fresh water 
on a tail leach or elsewhere. 

A great deal depends upon the proper dissolving of que- 
bracho in its successful use in the vats, and it is far better that 
such precipitation as takes place should go on in the cooling 
tub rather than on the leather. 

The use of the Barkometer. — The barkometer underrates the 
strength of tannin in quebracho when compared to the strength 
of ordinary bark liquors. This is owing to the fact that the 
quebracho wood contains very much less material which forces 
up a barkometer than does bark. A pure quebracho liquor, 
for instance, made up from nothing but quebracho extract and 
water is, at 20 degrees barkometer, fully as strong in tan as a 
sweet bark liquor of about 30 degrees barkometer. This var- 
iation in the barkometer value must be taken into considera- 
tion, or else the tanner is apt to get the quebracho liquor too 
strong and burn the fiber of the leather. 



446 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Quebracho, being sweet, tends to make pliable, rather than 
hard, leather, the latter resulting more or less from sour liquors. 
On heavy leathers, such as harness and belting, it is extremely 
useful on account of the toughness which it gives to them. 

It is being used with success on upper leathers for a fore- 
tannage, and also for retanning splits coming therefrom. On 
patent leather it is particularly useful on account of the pliable 
qualities which it gives to stock that is to receive a coating of 
varnish. 

Quebracho produces leather of an oak shade, with a very 
slight pinkish tendency. Leather tanned with this material, 
however, should not be dried in the sun, as the color becomes 
red on exposure to the light. 

Hides that are intended for quebracho liquors should be 
very thoroughly cleansed from lime, that is to say, properly 
bated, since quebracho and lime do not go at all well together. 
Bark liquors act more or less as a bate all the way through, 
but quebracho, with its peculiar sweetness, does not do so, and 
on coming into contact with lime in the hide fiber produces 
bad grain and bad color. 

Quebracho is useful in the tanning of heavy leathers in 
strengthening the head liquors, and in keeping them sweet. It 
penetrates very quickly and by its use tanners are often 
enabled to increase the weight of their leather. The best re- 
sults are obtained by mixing quebracho extract with other 
tanning materials, such as oak and hemlock in the tanning of 
heavy leathers. The process of tanning is quickened by the 
use of quebracho, and the cost of tanning is somewhat cheap- 
ened. It is useful in making sole leather as well as upper and 
harness. 

TANNING SNAKE SKINS. 

Tanning with Aliun and Salt. — Snake skins, like all other 
skins, should be soaked in water until they are soft, then broken 
or fleshed on the beam, and put back into the water for a few 
hours. They are then put into a solution of sulphuric acid 
and salt to pickle them, after which they are brought into a solu- 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 447 

tion of equal parts of alum and salt, in which they remain over 
night or longer. They are next hung up to dry; and when 
dry, are run with moist saw dust until all the scales are ofif; 
they are then staked carefully, dried and finished. 

Tanning with Bark or Extract — Snake skins can be tanned 
in bark or extract liquor the same as calf and sheepskins, 
beginning with weak liquor, handling often and increasing the 
strength daily. While soaking, they should be worked by hand 
until they are soft and flexible and the outer scales removed. 
When soft, and the scales have been removed, they are in con- 
dition to be tanned ; the tanned skin is soft and flexible and the 
natural colors are but little changed. 

Tanning with Salt, Alum and Gambler. — A writer in the 
Leather Manufacturer describes a method of tanning snake 
skins in the following words : 

"The method is about the same as for any skin. Assuming 
that the skin is either green salted or dry salted, then soak in 
the usual way. Flesh, wash and put into the lime vat for four 
or five days until the outer scale can be easily removed. 
Afterward wash and give it a bran drench until properly de- 
pleted ; wash, and pickle with a salt and alum liquor for three 
days, one part alum, two parts salt with sufficient water to 
cover. After pickling, start to tan in a 5 per cent, gambler 
liquor which may be daily increased until it has reached 10 per 
cent. The skin will be tanned in from six to fourteen days, 
according to its size and thickness. After tanning, oil or 
fat-liquor, dry out, wet down, shave, sumac, again oil or fat- 
liquor if required ; stretch out and tack, drying slowly. When 
dry, grind the flesh off with sand-paper block or block of 
pumice, and finish as wanted, either dull or bright. If the 
latter, casein or shellac ; if the former flaxseed gum or gum 
tragacanth. 

HOW TO TAN DEERSKINS. 

Deerskins may be tanned with oil, with sumac, with alum, 
salt and egg yolk, in a chrome process, and with gambler, alum 
and salt. These skins are generally wanted very soft ; thorough 



448 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

and long liming is therefore necessary. They are soaked and' 
fleshed, then painted with a mixture of lime and sulphide of 
sodium. As soon as the hair becomes loosened it is remov^ed, 
and the skins are put into lime and limed about twice as long 
as sheepskins ; the grain is then removed and the skins are 
drenched and tanned. When an alum, salt and gambler tan- 
nage is to be used the grain is left on, as the skins are used for 
moccasins, soft shoes and slippers. For oil tannage the grain 
is removed after the skins have been limed. 

Oil Tannage. — After the grain has been removed the skins 
are drenched and freed of all lime. They are then treated with 
oil in the same manner as sheepskin fleshers for chamois 
leather. When fully tanned they may be used in the natural 
yellow color of the process or colored the same as chamois 
skins. 

Another way to tan the skins consists of drying them after 
liming and without bating; then soaking them back and giving 
them an oil tannage. Tanning is effected in stocks which 
pound and turn the skins until they are tanned, which takes 
several days. They are then washed in warm soda-ash solution 
to free them from the thickened oil. From this oil that is re- 
moved, by the use of an acid, sod oil is recovered. French 
degras is recovered by dipping the skins in hot water and then 
pressing them under a hydraulic press. Coloring is accom- 
plished in the same manner as described for chamois skins. 

Sumac Tannage. — The skins are limed and drenched in the 
same manner as other leathers ; they are then tanned with 
sumac, after which they are washed, put out hard on flesh and 
grain-oiled, especially on the flesh side, which, being porous, 
rapidly absorbs the oil. The quantity of oil to be used depends 
upon the condition of the skin, and must be determined by the 
judgment of the tanner. The skins are next hung up and dried 
and the grain is then buffed, the skins being staked and soft- 
ened and the flesh run on an emery wheel. Alum and sumac 
also produces well tanned skins. 

Alum Tannage. — In this process the skins are tanned with 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 449 

alum salt and egg yolk, as described for mocha castor glove 
leather, and also for white alum tanned sheepskins. 

Ganibier, Alum and Salt Tannage. — A light yellow colored 
leather is obtained by tanning deerskins with gambler, alum and 
salt, and then smoking them with smoke from dry birch wood. 
The skins are limed and drenched in a bran drench and then 
tanned, being handled and stirred until they are fully tanned. 
Tljey are then hung in a smoke-house and thoroughly saturated 
with the smoke from dry birch wood, with the object of color- 
ing them. The process requires skill and attention to get a 
uniform and satisfactory color. After they have been smoked 
they are smoothed on the flesh side on an emery wheel, stufTed 
by hand with a mixture of the best cod oil, tallow and stearine, 
set out on the grain and hung up to dry. Staking, perching 
and sometimes boarding complete the process. The skins can 
also be colored dark oxblood and brown, and when finished 
are very attractive leather. The leather tanned this way makes 
soft and durable shoes and slippers that are especially suitable 
for nurses' wear, sporting shoes and moccasins. 

Indian Tan. — The following method is said to be the way 
the American Indians tanned deerskins : Take a skin either 
green or well soaked and flesh it with a dull knife. Spread it 
on a smooth log and grain it by scraping with a sharp instru- 
ment ; rub nearly dry over the oval end of a board held 
upright. Take the brains of a deer or a calf, dry them gently 
by the fire ; put them into a cloth and boil until soft; then 
cool off the liquid until it is lukewarm with water sufficient to 
soak the skin in, and soak the latter until it is quite soft and 
pliable. Wring it out as dry as possible, wash it in soap suds 
and rub it dry, then smoke it well with wood smoke. Instead 
of brains, oil or lard may be used, the skins being soaked therein 
six hours. 

Chrome Tanjiage. — Deerskins can be made into very soft and 

tough leather by being tanned in a chrome process, and fat- 

Hquored, and colored the same as any other chrome leather. 

The method of preparing them for tanning, the process of tan- 

29 



450 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

ning, and the coloring and fat-liquoring, are the same as for 
sheepskins. By applying to them the instructions given for 
sheepskins, splendid leather can be made. Shades of brown 
and tan can be obtained ; and when finished the leather will be 
very soft, tough and strong. The skins should be limed a day 
or two longer than sheepskins; otherwise the treatment is the 
same. 

GRADING AND CLASSIFICATION OF GREEN CALFSKIN. 

Green calfskins are graded and classified as follows by one 
of the largest calfskin dealers in this country. They are first 
graded as to qualities, viz. : 

First, drawn or fisted off. — These are skins that are perfect 
in every respect, fresh, clean, free from scars and other imper- 
fections and in choice condition. No deep scars are allowed 
on the bodies, although slight knife marks are permissible. If 
the hair slips on a spot no larger than a silver quarter dollar, 
the skin drops down into a No. 2. 

Second, regular No. i. — These are clean fresh skins that have 
been properly taken off with knives. Scars are allowed in 
this grade, but there must be no holes, hair slips or other bad 
imperfections. An old salt-stained skin, even though it has 
no holes nor hair slips, is not allowed in this grade, but is put 
into No. 2. 

Third, good No. 2. — This term designates those skins that 
are slightly hair slipped. In this grade are also included those 
that have one, but not more than one, hole in them, and all 
old or salt-stained skins, even though they have neither holes 
nor hair slips. 

Fourth, proof No. 2. This class of skins are those that have 
more than one and less than five holes in them ; also those 
that are badly hair slipped or otherwise badly injured. 

Fifth, culls. — A cull is a skin that has five or more holes in 
its body, or one badly damaged by reason of moths, ticks, taint, 
or other serious imperfections. 

There is another still lower grade, which is called glues. 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 45 I 

These skins are practically worthless for tanning into leather, 
and are always bought on terms agreed upon by buyer and 
seller. After the skins are graded according to quality, they 
are subdivided to weights, viz. : 

First, what are known as deacon or dairy skins. These have 
been taken from calves whose meat is not used for food. They 
weigh in the green, in an untrimmed condition, less than seven 
and one-half pounds. This classification also includes trimmed 
veal skins weighing under five pounds. 

Second, five to seven pound trimmed veal skins. This clas- 
sification also includes a deacon or dairy skin weighing, green 
and untrimmed, seven and one half pounds and more. 

Third, seven to nine pound veal skins. 

Fourth, nine to twelve pound veal skins. 

Fifth, twelve to seventeen pound veal kips. 

Sixth, kips weighing from seventeen pounds up. 

These are the grades and classifications into which the skins 
are sorted when they are received at the warehouse of the 
dealer, and they are sold in these grades to tanners, although 
all dealers do not strictly follow these classifications. When 
skins are carefully graded as to quality and weight, and the 
•characteristics of each grade are well known to the tanner, he 
can buy the class that is especially adapted to his particular 
needs. 

Sliinks are skins taken from still-born calves. They are very 
light and tender, and have a very fine, clear grain. They are 
usually sold at a certain price per skin, the price being deter- 
mined by the* quality. 

Large numbers of calfskins are imported into the United 
States from foreign countries in both green-salted and dry con- 
dition. They are used for the same purposes as domestic 
skins, the green-salted ones being made into chrome, patent and 
other leathers while many of the dried stock, owing to damaged 
grain, is valueless for leather finished upon the grain and must 
be made into wax and other similar leathers. Dry skins from 
Russia, having thick and long hair, are used in the manufac- 
ture of coats and robes. 



452 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

THE MANUFACTURE OF SEAL SKINS. 

Raw seal skins come to the tanner in a freshly salted condi- 
tion, and are broadly speaking, divided into two classes: 
"small" or "white-coat" seal, "large" or "cow seal." 

The "small" or "white-coat" seals are principally used for 
making levant grain, and " large" or " cow seals" for making 
walrus grain, though a grain similar to the latter is frequently 
produced on the small seal and likewise the levant grain on 
cow seals. As the processes dififer somewhat in order to obtain 
these different grains, it is necessary to describe them sep- 
arately. Before doing so it is well to say a word concerning 
the water to be used and the efifect it has upon the resultant 
leather. A very soft water produces poor, soft, hungry leather,^ 
the grain being soft and of poor formation, while a very hard 
water produces solid, tight leather and the grain is flat and 
difificult to work up. Experience has taught that a moderately 
hard water produces the best results and is most suitable for 
tanning seal skin. 

Levant Grain. The skins, when taken from the barrels in 
which they are shipped to the tanner, are found to be covered 
with salt crystals and are very greasy. A convenient pack of 
about twenty-five dozen is transferred to the soak pits. The 
water in the pit must not be absolutely cold, and in winter 
time it is necessary to warm it up a few degrees. 

After remaining in soak for a day, the pack is hauled up and 
fleshed over a beam. As much as possible of the loose 
blubber and grease is removed by the beamsmen. The skins 
are then put into a fresh soak and remain in it forty-eight 
hours, when they are again scraped over the beam, this time 
on both flesh and hair sides. 

It will be found owing to the very greasy nature of seals, 
that the beamsmen have difficulty in handling their knives, but 
this is readily overcome by occasionally using a handful of 
sawdust and rubbing their hands with it. 

The skins are now ready for liming. White lime alone should 
be used, as it has been found to produce the best results. 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 453 

Sodium sulphide in conjunction with Hme produces a "pipey" 
grain. Arsenic and Hme produce a soft and silky grain. 

For the ordinary sized pit, a half barrel of lime is slaked in 
the usual manner, and when filled up with water, is thoroughly 
plunged, so that the lime is well diffused throughout. Two 
men are required to put the pack in the pit, one to throw each 
skin in separately and the second to push it down with a stick 
so that it will lie evenly. The time required for hming varies 
according to the weather. In winter twenty-one days are 
enough; in summer not more than sixteen days are required. 
Every other day the skins should be hauled up and the lime 
plunged. When the first pack has gone through, the second 
pack should follow into the pit, but it should remain in it only 
twenty-four hours, when the lime is run off and a new one 
substituted. Owing to the extremely greasy nature of seal 
skins, it is necessary to give them this long liming. In order 
to produce a firm leather with the requisite hard grain, it is 
necessary to keep the limes as fresh as possible. If the limes 
are allowed to become old and strong their action upon the 
■skins is such as to produce tender leather with a soft grain. 

Unhah'ing. — The skins are unhaired on the beam; though 
unhairing machines have been used, it is questionable whether 
they are any cheaper in the end. Care must be taken to rid 
the skins of the young hair, which is sometimes found difhcult 
to remove. 

After unhairing, the superfluous lime is removed by washing 
the pack in a wheel which is constructed so that the water can 
be kept running in and off while in rotation. It will be 
found that the water running off will be milky in appearance, 
gradually getting clearer, and when quite clear the washing is 
completed and the skins are ready for puering. Dog's dung is 
used, but good results have been obtained with Dennis' 
Puerine. The dung should have previously been soaked so as 
to start the action of the bacteria. To a paddle, two or three 
pailfuls are required ; and the water in the paddle should be 
warm enough to bear the hand in it comfortably. The time 



454 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

required depends upon the temperature of the puer, whether 
the paddle is closed or open, and the strength of the dung. 
No set rule can be given but must be gained by experience. 
However, the skins are to be brought down fairly low ; and a 
good guide to determine when they are low enough is to occa- 
sionally take one out and pinch it between the forefinger and 
thumb. When a decided impression is left on the grain, the 
puering has gone far enough. From two to six hours should 
bring them down, though the larger seal require longer treat- 
ment and can stand a stronger infusion of dung. 

The skins are washed in lukewarm water for a few minutes 
and are scudded over a beam. Slate knives are usually used 
for this, which is rather an important operation, as it removes- 
any free lime or lime salts that may be in the skins. 

A bran drench should (previously to scudding) have been 
made by scalding half a bag of bran and a pailful of pea meal 
in a pit or paddle. After the scudding of each skin, it should 
be immediately thrown into the drench. If a pit is used, the 
skins may remain in it over night; if in a paddle only five or 
six hours are required. They are then washed through water 
and are ready for tanning. 

In this country the materials found to efficiently take the 
place of oak bark and sumac, as used in England, are que- 
bracho extract and sumac. 

Tanning. — A cube of solid quebracho extract is dissolved in 
a barrel by boiling. This constitutes a stock solution. A ten 
degree barkometer solution of this extract is taken and 
drummed together with the skins in a closed wheel for one 
hour, sufficient liquor being used so as to cover the goods.. 
This sets the grain. The skins are then put into a paddle con- 
taining about a twelve-degree liquor, and remain in it until 
they are tanned. The strength of the liquor is gradually in- 
creased. Tanning should be complete in a week, which can 
be tested by cutting off a small piece and observing whether 
the tan liquor has entirely penetrated the middle of the skin, 
leavine no white streaks. When tanned the skins are drummed 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 455 

in a wheel with one-half bagful of sumac and a few pailfuls of 
liquor for two or three hours. They are then struck out on a 
machine and hung up to dry. 

When quite dry they are taken down and struck out, either 
by hand or by machine, using good hot water to soak them in ; 
then they are hung up to partially dry out. Such edges as are 
dried out should be redampened with a sponge before resetting 
them on a table. After this resetting they are ready for black- 
ing.' Two piles, a dozen skins in each pile, are laid on the table 
with the necks and butts running one way, and are dyed with 
the following materials : 

Blackening. — A pailful of good, strong logwood solution, to 
which a half cup of ammonia has been added, is heated up to 
boiling point and applied to the skins with a brush or sheep- 
skin pad. This is immediately followed by a solution of iron 
liquor and glue, prepared by pouring a gallon of iron liquor 
over one-half pound of best glue; this is allowed to stand a few 
hours and heated up before use. This floss, as it is commonly 
called, is put on the skins evenly and thinly, care being taken 
to rub it in thoroughly. The skins are laid face to face after 
blackening, covered up and allowed to remain over night to 
allow the black to set. 

They are then grained from angle to angle with a board 
covered with a piece of thin tin perforated similar to a nutmeg 
grater. After these two "cuts" they receive another "cut" 
on the belly with a cork-board, followed by a "cut" straight 
up the skin. Dried in a hot room, afterwards " emeried " and 
flesh side and seasoned with the following : Three-fourths pail- 
ful of water, one quart albumen (blood), one pint milk, one 
quart ink. This is applied with a sponge, and skins are laid 
face to face until they come to or are dry enough to be glazed. 
After glazing they are sprung up with a cork-board. 

Walrus Grain Seal. — The large sealskins usually used for 
this kind of work are soaked in the above-described manner. 
In liming them, however, a pound or two (according to the size 
of the pack) of sodium sulphide is used in conjunction with 



456 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

lime. From ten to sixteen days is enough liming for this class 
of work. 

When unhaired the skins are thoroughly washed in water. 
They are not bated with dog's dung, but put into a strong, old 
bran bate and brought down in it. They are taken out and 
drummed in a hot and fairly strong liquor, which contracts the 
grain, thus forming the well known walrus grain. The subse- 
quent tanning is done in a paddle, and when tanned the skins 
are hung up, dried, blackened, grained and seasoned. 

TANNING AND DRESSING SEAL SKINS FOR LEATHER WORK. 

The seal skins used for leather work are quite distinct from 
the fur-bearing varieties, and are all members of the family 
PJiocidce, they being generally captured off the coasts of New- 
foundland, Labrador, Greenland, Nova Scotia and the shores 
of New England. The Newfoundland fishery is the largest by 
far, and furnishes work for a small army of men in Scotland 
and the former country. Seal leather is used for enameling, 
although much of it is dyed for fancy purposes, book-binding, 
etc. Handsome as it is, it has, however, been largely supplanted 
by imitations made from embossed skivers and goat skins, large 
quantities being worked up in Germany. 

Soaking and Beamhoiise Work. — Seal skins are soaked for 
three or four days in changes of water according to condition; 
they should, of course, be hauled up each day to drain, and 
at the end of the soak the "blubbering" should be done thor- 
oughly. This is still done over the tanner's beam with a sharp 
fleshing knife, the object being to remove as much of the adher- 
ing fat as possible. 

In passing on to the limes care should be taken to see that 
the skins are not in a putrid condition, which would cause loss 
of substance. They should be placed at first in a weak and 
old lime, and gradually worked into stronger limes, finally be- 
ing finished off in a new lime of medium strength. They are 
naturally very greasy, and will stand from three to four weeks 
liming to neutralize the grease, although a great deal depends 
upon their condition and the temperature. 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 457 

When the skins are sufficiently limed, they are unhaired and 
fleshed in the usual way, and are well-washed in tepid water 
and passed on to the splitter. First, allow them to drain well 
over a horse, taking care they are well covered, and that the 
edges do not become dry, or signs of lime blast will be seen on 
the finished leather. 

Splitting. — Splitting is now usually done on the belt-knife 
machine, which in capable hands does excellent work. The 
substance, of course, will vary according to the requirements 
of the market. The grain usually goes for patent or enam- 
elling purposes, although it is often used for bookbinding 
and fancy leather goods. Too thin middle splits and one rough 
split can usually be got from each skin, and the " linings" are 
then usually thrown back into the limes for a couple of days 
to get rid of as much of the grease as possible. About a 
couple of days is usually sufficient for this with one handling. 
The linings are then washed in tepid water, slightly acidified 
with acetic acid to neutralize any resisting temporary hardness. 

Bating, Scudding and Drenching. — In spite of chemical sub- 
stitutes, deliming is best effected in the old-fashioned dog puer, 
care being taken to keep the temperature at about 104 degrees 
Fah., at which it is safe and effective. This process should be 
placed in the hands of an experienced and capable man. If 
the skins are spoiled here no amount of attention will rectify 
mistakes. When sufficiently down, they should be scudded, 
every care being taken to remove as much grease, scud and 
filth as possible. 

At this point it is usual to drench the split seal skins to re- 
move all traces of pigment and lime salts. The drench is pre- 
pared by scalding enough bran at about ten degrees below 
boiling point. This is cooled down to 95 degrees Fah., when 
the skins are entered. If the drench ferments properly, the 
skins will rise to the top as the gas generates ; they should be 
pushed down until the drenching has been carried far enough, 
when the .goods are slated out of warm water, ready for 
tanning. 



458 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Tanning Process. — Seal skins should be struck through by 
running them first in a paddle with a weak gambier and sumac 
liquor of about lo degrees barkometer. Care must be taken 
to insure a sufficiency of acidity, otherwise the skins will fall, 
and will remain flat and papery when finished. After running^ 
in this weak liquid for about six hours, pass on to next pad- 
dle, making up liquor with gambier to about 20 degrees 
barkometer. 

It is as well to add about a quart of acetic acid to carry five 
dozen grains or linings. In this paddle the time taken should 
amount to about seven hours. The third liquor should be 
made up to a strength of 35 degrees barkometer, and about the 
same amount of acid should be added to it in proportion. It 
will also help to fill out and improve the goods, if about a pail- 
ful of oak wood extract is added to the liquor after they have 
been running in it for half an hour. If this has been properly 
carried out, the skins will have been struck through and should 
be horsed up and allowed to drain ready for sumacing. 

This is best done in a vat, although a paddle is sometimes 
used. The bath is prepared by adding water at about 50 de- 
grees C. (122 degrees Fahr.), to about a quarter of a hundred- 
weight of best Palermo sumac. Experience has shown that 
more tannin is extracted at this temperature than at a higher 
one. Cool down before entering the goods at 30 degrees C. i 86 
degrees Fahr.), and haul up once or twice, warming the liquor 
each time. After laying in the sumac over night the skins 
should be horsed up and, after draining, taken to the sheds for 
drying. Care should be taken not to expose them to the 
strong or harsh winds in the early stages, and the use of steam 
or artificial heat should as much as possible be avoided. 

Tanning the Splits. — The splits may be treated and tanned 
as follows: Enter into a liquor made up to 35 or 40 degrees 
barkometer, with best oakwood extract and sufficient water. 
For every five dozen splits add two quarts of acetic acid, which 
will help to maintain the goods in a plump condition. Keep 
the splits (linings) in this for two days, handling once. Horse 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 459 

Up to drain and dry out steadily. Experience has shown that 
the best quahty of tanning materials is the cheapest. Cube 
gambier, for instance, costs more than the block, but is richer 
in tannin and does not contain the dross common to the former 
article. Above all, use the best Sicilian sumac ; better by far 
to give a few dollars more per hundredweight for the best ven- 
tilated article than to haggle for price with a dealer, and then 
perhaps get a low grade sumac badly doped with lentiscus. 

Directions for Finishing. — When the grains are brought down 
from the shed, they are treated, where weight is a consideration, 
as follows : For every ten dozen skins take twenty-eight pounds 
of chloride of barium, and with sufficient water to wet them, 
work the goods in a drum, together with six gallons of sumac 
for an hour at 104 degrees Fahr. From this they are plunged, 
a dozen at a time, into a weak solution of sulphuric acid ; this 
should taste moderately acid when applied to the tongue. 

Stir the skins for three or four minutes until in fact they 
assume a whitish appearance. The chemical action causes the 
barium chloride to be changed into barium sulphate. After 
each dozen skins is taken out of the bath, sufficient acid should 
be added to keep it up to the required acidity. 

The skins are now ready for hoisting up and striking out, the 
latter being done on the grain side in the ordinary way, and 
the grain side is wiped over with best linseed oil. They are 
then hung up to sammy or stiffen sufficient for setting. When 
ready, let them lay in piles, after dampening down all dry parts, 
for a day or two, and then set out long ways, and after that from 
neck to butt. Now hang them up and allow them to dry out. 
When dry, break down with graining board, pushing the goods 
up on the flesh side from neck to butt, and turning and doing 
the same on the grain side. Fluffing or buffing follows. This 
should be effected on a. fine emery wheel, and done cross- 
ways, commencing at the butt, going about half across, turning 
round, and reversing. Now draw the skins straight down on 
the grain. 

Treatment for Split Linings. — The linings, after being dried 



46o PRACTICAL TANNING. 

out, may be weighted by drawing them through a strong solu- 
tion of chloride of barium, as above described, but they must 
be drawn through the acid bath one at a time if tearing is to be 
avoided. Now wash with warm water, and lightly strike out 
with a suitable ridging board. They are then ready for strain- 
ing, and when dry are bufifed on one side and enameled on the 
other. They may also be utilized for colors by soaking in warm 
water, and running them through a weak acid bath, and drying 
in a paddle at about 113 degrees Fahr. If acid dye is used the 
goods can be dyed at once, but if basic dye is used the tannin 
should be fixed by tartar emetic. 

After dyeing to shade, wash in cold water, run out with the 
ridging board and tack out or strain, taking care that the goods 
are not dried too rapidly. Moderate heat, or a weather dry is 
preferable, as the goods fall off the tacking boards when dry if 
they are not carefully watched. When dry, they are taken off 
the framesj and the side that is to be faced is filled up with a 
potato-flour paste, made by adding sufficient of the farina to 
water to form a stifT paste. When the paste is cold add a little 
color and apply a good coat of it, after which the goods are 
again tacked on the straining frames or boards. When dry, 
they are seasoned with an albumen seasoning made by soaking 
six ounces of albumen in cold water over night, and making up 
to two gallons with a pint of milk. Apply the seasoning lightly 
Vv'ith a soft sponge ; hang the goods up until in condition for 
glazing, and glaze with a suitable machine for the final finishing. 

The splits, after being struck out and tacked, are stripped 
from the straining frames and then rolled to flatten down the 
rough surface. They are next stained, which may be done as 
follows: Into a pailful of boiling water holding about three 
gallons dissolve three ounces of dye, stirring until dissolved. 
Now strain the dye liquor through cheese cloth doubled over a 
few times. A mixture of one of the fast browns and yellows will, 
after an experiment or two on a small scale, produce the shade 
required. While the three gallons of dye are hot, add to them 
about six ounces of dissolved starch. This will slightly thicken 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 46 1 

the dye, which even with this addition will penetrate very rap- 
idly, and consequently should be spread quickly and evenly 
with a suitable brush. 

Finishing Operations. — Finishing this class of goods is a 
simple matter once the proper receipt for the finish is obtained. 
The following has been found to work very well in practice if 
brushed on carefully and the linings hung up until nearly dry, 
/. e.y in the proper condition for rolling: Boil for an hour or so 
two pounds of Irish moss and four pints of flaxseed in a steam- 
jacket pan. Then add one pound of gelatine which has been 
soaked over night in a little water and a half pound of curd 
soap. The boiling should be carried on long enough to extract 
all the mucilage in the flaxseed and moss, and at the end of the 
time the mixture should be well squeezed through a fine- 
meshed bag. After the seasoning is applied cold, or nearly so, 
the splits are well rolled under the jack, and after trimming are 
ready for the warehouse table, eventually finding use for shoe 
linings, valises and other articles. 

Splits for White Shoes. — For sporting and athletic shoes, seal 
splits are frequently sold as a good imitation for the real deer- 
skin article. These goods are treated as before described so 
far as soaking, liming, bating and drenching are concerned. 
Only the best and stoutest splits are selected for this purpose. 

After drenching, the splits are washed in warm water and 
placed in a pickle made as follows : For every hundred-weight 
of pelt, cook until dissolved twenty pounds of alum and four- 
teen pounds of salt. Put the goods into the mill and add the 
pickle in instalments while they are in motion. Care must 
be taken that the temperature of the pickle does not exceed 95 
degrees Fahr. The pickling operation should take about one 
hour, when a mixture made as follows should be added : Mix 
thirty-five pounds of flour with enough hot water at 95 degrees 
Fahr. to form a stififish paste, and add half a gallon of egg yolk 
and about five pounds of china clay. No oil or grease is nec- 
essary, as seal spHts are naturally of a greasy nature. 

To apply this dressing it is best to stop the mill and to add 



462 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

about half the paste to the goods ; mill for a quarter of an hour, 
then stop and add the remainder, milling again at least for two 
hours. Now take the splits from the mill, double them across 
and spread them out in a vat or tub. The liquor left from the 
mill is then poured over them and they are allowed to lay in 
this for three days, hauling up once a day and allowing to drain. 
After the final draining tack on frames or boards and dry 
quickly. If this is not done the result will be poor, as the alum 
and salt will hardly get a chance of being fixed properly, and 
the finished leather will be tinny and flat. 

The splits are now allowed to lay in a cool place for two or 
three weeks to feed and mellow, and they are then staked. 
Damp down first by draining through the liquor they laid in, 
after making up to a convenient quantity with water. Lay 
them in a pile until they are in good condition for staking. 
The staking is best done in the old-fashioned way by hand, 
although it is possible to do good work by machinery under 
suitable conditions. The splits are then dried and worked out 
on the perch with the old arm-crutch stake. Now carefully 
run them on the emery wheel, using fine emery. Commence 
at the butt and work about half-way across, and then turn them 
and do the other side in the same way. Now turn over and 
repeat the operation as before, and a fine, velvety fiber will be 
the result. After being again placed in the perch, rubbed over 
with whitening and finally worked out well with the hand- 
scouring tool, the splits are ready for the shoe manufacturer. 

RAPID TANNING PROCESS FOR SOLE LEATHER. 

It is of primary importance to thoroughly remove the salt of 
salted hides, and to soak them well. During the process the 
water should be frequently replaced by a fresh supply. This 
work is best done by hanging the hides on sticks into the vats. 
They are then placed in weak limes strengthened with sul- 
phide of sodium and left therein, the liquor being gradually 
strengthened until they can be easily unhaired. They are then 
unhaired, bated lightly and washed clean. 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 463 

They are next placed inlhe tannage, which maybe commenced 
with oak liquor, to which some mimosa or myrabolans has 
been added. The density of the liquor should be about i de- 
gree Be. at the beginning and raised gradually to 3 degrees 
Be. The hides are transferred to stronger liquor daily, and 
before they are put into the drum the tannage must strike 
through well. This condition will appear at the end of about 
two or three weeks, according to the thickness of the hides. 
Next the drum is prepared. The liquor is taken from the 
3 degree Be. vat and poured into the drum. Into a separate 
layer tank 350 pounds chestnut wood extract, 350 pounds que- 
bracho wood extract and 300 pounds oakwood extract are dis- 
solved. Of this liquor enough is taken to strengthen the first 
liquor to 6 degrees Be. Care must be taken to have more 
liquor in the drum than one foot under the shaft. Now the hides 
are thrown mto the drum ; after two hours the extract is im- 
proved until the liquor reaches 8 degrees Be. During the drum 
tannage the strength of the liquor should never be allowed to 
sink below that given, and under no conditions below 8 degrees. 
In about forty-eight hours this drum tannage will be completed. 
The temperature must be kept down ; and to prevent too much 
foam from forming, about one pint of turpentine is poured into 
the drum. It is an advantage to allow the drum to run day and 
night, and the revolution should not exceed eight or ten per 
minute. When tanned the leather is taken out of the drum 
and spread flat on the floor. In this condition it is allowed to 
remain one day, being well covered. After this time has passed 
the hides are placed in fresh water, into which a little tan liquor 
has been mixed. The density of this water should be about one- 
half degree Be., and the time from one to two days. The liquor 
will strengthen itself to about 2 degrees Be., and may be used 
to dissolve extract with or for any other tanning purpose. The 
tanned leather may also be immersed in a weak liquor made of 
that remaining from the first drumming. It may also be put into 
weak sumac liquor for some hours. The essential point is to 
remove the extract from the flesh and grain surfaces, leaving at 



464 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

the same time as much of the weighty tan in the interior as pos- 
sible. The leather is next thrown over a horse and allowed to 
drip. It is then oiled off on the grain and hung up to dry^ 
with the heads hanging down. Strong draughts or sunlight 
should be prevented from coming in contact with it. When 
partly dry, it is set out by hand or on the machine. Before 
setting out, the following mixture is applied on the flesh 
side : In a pailful of water, six handfuls of gum tragacanth and 
three handfuls of talcum are mixed, and this mixture is put into 
a larger vessel into which enough water is added to make the 
whole six pailfuls. Next the leather is completely dried in a 
room having a good circulation of air. When completely dried 
it is laid on piles, then dampened with water and next rolled 
on the sole-leather roller. 

Hides for drum tanning should be thoroughly delimed and 
perfectly colored, and set in the pit suspender liquors, which 
should be strong enough to neutralize all remaining lime. They 
are then put into a drum, and a used liquor of 10 to 12° B6. may 
be employed ; they are run in this ten hours, after which they 
are placed as before in a used liquor of 17 to 18° Be. for ten 
hours. By this time they should be thoroughly struck through, 
and the tanning may then be completed in extract, giving 
enough to well tan them, and to show 17 to 18° Be. for the fol- 
lowing packs. The liquors get reduced very quickly, and will 
show a loss of at least 5° Be. in the first two hours. The 
leather may now be put into a 4-degree liquor for two days, or 
into sumac liquor for several hours, and then be struck out on 
a machine, oiled with linseed or mineral oil and slowly sam- 
mied. When sufificiently sammied it is again struck out, lightly 
oiled and dried. If light and not required too firm, it should 
be rolled off with a heavy roller. If required firm, it should 
then be dampened and rolled. No drum-tanned leather 
should be rolled until it has first been thoroughly dried. 

ONE-BATH CHROME PROCESS. 
The following one-bath tannage produces excellent results 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 465 

for glove leather and for chrome calf and side leathers. The 
best results are obtained by using a two-bath tannage first and 
this one-bath afterward, although good leather is made by using 
this process alone. 

Formula for the Liquor. — Dissolve 54 pounds of chrome alum 
in 54 gallons of water at 70 degrees Fahr. In a separate ves- 
sel dissolve 6 pounds of Wyandotte Tanners' Alkali in 12 gal- 
lons of water at 100 degrees Fahr. Add this solution slowly 
to the chrome alum solution until the liquor begins to get 
cloudy. This shows that the chrome alum is nearly neutralized. 

Pickle. — Prepare a solution using one pound of sulphuric 
acid with eight to ten pounds of common salt, 50 to 60 degrees 
barkometer. Pickle the stock thoroughly, then horse, grain to 
grain, for twenty-four hours. After draining, weigh the stock. 
Then neutralize it in a drum, using three pounds of Glauber's 
salt and twenty gallons of water for each five hundred pounds 
of pickled stock. 

Tanning. — Put five hundred pounds of pickled skins into a 
drum. Use ten per cent, of the chrome liquor prepared as 
above in four equal parts. For example, use two and one-half 
per cent., four times, at intervals of twenty minutes. When all 
the liquor is in the drum run the skins in it for three hours. 
Then make a solution of seven and one-half ounces of Wyan- 
dotte Tanners' Alkali (or sixteen ounces of Wyandotte Tanners' 
Soda) and eight to ten gallons of cold water. Use this pro- 
portion for each one hundred pounds of leather and run for 
twenty minutes. Some tanners prefer to use Wyandotte Tan- 
ners' Soda in place of the alkali because it is more mild in its 
action. 

HOW TO DYE COLORED CHROME SKINS BLACK. 

By carrying out the following instructions colored chrome- 
tanned calfskins, goatskins, sheepskins and sides can be pre- 
pared for blacking and finishing into black leather: 

Put one hundred and twenty-five calfskins or two hundred 
and fifty goatskins into a drum with warm water and run them 
30 



466 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

until they are thoroughly soaked, then drain the water off. 
Then take five pounds of Wyandotte Tanners' Soda and one 
hundred gallons of water and run for one-half hour, after which 
add one quart of ammonia and run for another half hour. If 
a paddle-wheel is used instead of a drum, take the same num- 
ber of skins and the same proportion of soda to each five hun- 
dred gallons of water in the paddle ; run an hour and then add 
a quart of ammonia and run another hour. It is advisable and 
better if the tanner has the time and a suitable place to allow 
the skins to remain in this solution over night. By using this 
process it will be found that the dye will penetrate much 
deeper and also give a very deep black. It will also be impos- 
sible to detect the fact that the skins were first fancy colors. 
Any suitable chrome blacking process may be used on the 
skins prepared as directed. 

TARTAR EMETIC AND ANTIMONINE IN LEATHER DYEING. 

Ever since the advent of tan and other colored leathers, tan- 
ners and leather dyers have experienced more or less difficulty 
in obtaining clear and uniform shades. It was thought when 
the chrome process of tanning was introduced that the chem- 
icals which were contained in this tannage would have such an 
affinity for the aniline dyes that no mordants or setting agents 
would be necessary. Tanners soon discovered, however, that 
they could not make much progress in leather dyeing without 
using something that would combine with the tannin to form a 
mordant for the dye and to fix the color permanently on the 
leather. Antimony compounds, tartar emetic and antimonine, 
the latter a patented compound, have come into quite general 
use. By treatment with an antimony compound there is formed 
an antimony tannin lake which is less soluble than the simple 
tannate which is formed by the combination of tannic acid and 
dyestuff. 

To obtain the best possible results, skins intended for colors 
should be selected with care, the texture and grain to be as 
perfect as possible. Skins tanned by a vegetable or a chrome 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 467 

process should have a fresh bath of tannic acid before they are 
colored, that is, they should be treated with sumac or fustic 
extract. 

As the sumac bath by itself fastens the tannin to the skin in 
an uncombined state, antimonine or tartar emetic is added to it. 
When uncombined tannin exists the colors are apt to be cloudy, 
whereas by the addition of antimonine, clear and uniform colors 
result, as the dye goes on evenly. Antimony and tannin form, 
as stated above, antimony-tannate, by which the tannin is com- 
bined with the antimony compound, so that when the dye 
solution is subsequently applied, mottled or cloudy color- 
ing is avoided by the color going on evenly, the result being 
fast and uniform shades. The method of applying the process 
is as follows : For twelve dozen chrome-tanned sheep or goat- 
skins, use as a mordant three pounds of extract of sumac in 
water at a temperature of 95 degrees Fahr. ; process the skins 
in a drum for twenty minutes, then add to the sumac bath one 
and one-half pounds of either antimonine or of tartar emetic 
dissolved in hot water and drum fifteen minutes longer. Then 
wash the skins in warm water by simply rinsing them, drain the 
liquor out of the drum, put the skins back into the drum and 
run them in the color bath. No bichromate of potash, alum or 
other material is required, as the antimonine or tartar emetic 
not only clears the grain of the skins but fixes the color as well. 

Antimonine is a patented antimony compound, the number 
of the patent being 597 107, 

A NEW DEVELOPMENT IN CHROME TANNING. 

The present development in the art of chrome tanning has 
been achieved, not by reason of the solution of the difificulties 
which were early encountered, but rather by avoiding the dan- 
gers which brought disaster, and which, as experience has 
taught, arose from a too close adherence to the older practice 
of tanning. 

But the old order has changed and given place to the new to 
an extent little dreamed of but a few years ago, and the ques- 



468 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

tion whether chrome- tanned leather is but a passing fad is open 
to discussion no longer. 

New tricks have been learned and progress has resulted 
which has kept pace with modern demands. 

Now that the solution of the early difficulties in chrome tan- 
ning is no longer vital or essential to the attainment of a satis- 
factory commercial product, nevertheless it is desirable that 
those diflficulties should be examined and considered in the 
hope that their solution will, as it were, blaze a new trail to the 
desired goal of perfection. 

The difificulty which caused more trouble, perhaps, than any 
other was due to the fact that any chrome-tanned leather would, 
if permitted to dry out immediately after tanning (the usual 
custom with vegetable-tanned leather), obstinately refuse to 
absorb moisture, in order that the process of dyeing and fat- 
liquoring could be proceeded with. 

This then was the first lesson which experience taught in 
tanning chrome leather — that the tanned hide or skin had to 
be kept wet from the tan bath until fat-liquored, and failure to 
observe this rule was attended with disaster, so far as the pro- 
duction of good leather was concerned. 

But before the operation of fat-liquoring could be proceeded 
with, the free mineral acids consequent to the fixation of chrome 
hydrate upon the fiber had first to be neutralized and the stock 
subjected to a thorough washing with water. 

It was soon discovered that if this operation of neutralizing 
and washing took place too quickly after tanning, that is, before 
the chromium base had " fixed " itself on the fiber, a large por- 
tion of the tanning salts which otherwise would have become 
absorbed by the fiber were washed out, with the result that the 
leather subsequently had the appearance of being undertanned. 

Consequently the usual practice has been to allow the goods 
to be placed in a pile on a " horse " several hours after tanning,, 
and before neutralizing and washing. 

It is apparent that the length of time during which the goods 
are " horsed," and the condition of the goods, must afifect the 



MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSES. 469 

*' fixation " of the chromium base on the fiber, and this in turn 
reflects itself on the quality of the leather. 

In alum and vegetable tannages the drying out or "crusting" 
of the goods immediately after tanning is recognized as having 
a most important bearing on the quality of the finished leather. 

Now if it were possible to "crust" chrome-tanned leather 
out of the tan bath exactly as alum or vegetable-tanned leathers 
are treated, it is clear that it must bring about a uniformity in 
the fixation of the chromium base which has not hitherto been 
attained, and because of this better absorption and fixation of 
the chromium base and its accompanying salts by the fiber, the 
quality of the leather is thereby considerably improved. 

A process recently invented by the writer permits of chrome- 
tanned hides and skins being dried out after tanning, and may 
be allowed to remain in the "crust" condition as long as it is 
desired to do so. 

The following is a description of the method employed : 

The goods on being taken out of the tan bath are horsed up 
over night without being washed, and the next day are set out 
and shaved. 

The wet or shaved weight of the stock is taken approxi- 
mately. A bath is prepared in a drum with four pounds of 
standard lactic acid for every 100 pounds of wet leather, and 
sufficient water to dififuse the acid so that the liquor will come 
in contact with the goods immediately after they are thrown 
in and the drum revolves. 

The goods are run in this bath for ten minutes, after which 
they are taken out and are immediately sent to the drying loft 
and allowed to dry out. 

After drying the goods can be stored away until wanted, and 
can then be sorted into suitable grades and weights as required. 

The dry leather when treated in the manner described ab- 
sorbs water readily and assumes its original wet condition as it 
was when it came from the tan bath. 

At this stage the leather can be washed thoroughly without 
any fear of removing desirable tanning salts or of interfering 
with the character of the leather. 



470 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

The operation of dyeing and fat-liquoring can be immedi- 
ately proceeded with, and because of the even absorption of 
moisture by the leather these processes proceed very uniformly 
and are consequently facilitated. 

After the goods are "set out" from the fat-liquor they can 
be tacked out at once, a process which yields a considerable 
gain in the measurement, and is accomplished without afifecting 
the character of the leather. 

Where it is desired to experiment with this process on a 
small scale, it is recommended that the bath in which the goods 
are treated be made up by volume rather than by the weight 
of the wet leather. 

A suitable strength is one-third of standard lactic acid and 
two-thirds water. 

In combination tannages of chrome and a vegetable tannin^ 
the fixation of the latter is brought about more intimately by 
treating the stock after the chrome bath with a bath of lactic 
acid. 

The development of the chromium tannage for the heavier 
leathers, such as sole, harness and belting leathers, will in all 
probability proceed along the lines of a compromise, and result 
in the production of a combination tannage of chromium and a 
vegetable tannin. 

In order that the fixation of the combined tannages on the 
fiber shall be so intimate as to permit of the vegetable tannin 
acting jointly as a tanning agent and a " filler," and that the 
result will produce a leather superior to either of the tannages 
employed independently, a bath of lactic acid after the chrome 
bath, and before treatment with the tannin liquor, ensures the 
fixation of an organic acid on the fiber which is in sympathy^ 
as it were, with the organic tannins and brings about a more 
complete assimilation of them. — Robert W. Griffith, in Shoe 
and Leather Reporter. 



SECTION ELEVEN. 
Receipts, Formulas and Miscellaneous Information. 

HOW TO neutralize CHROME LEATHER. 

When borax, which is a good neutralizer and cleanser, is 
used the boric acid which is liberated must be washed entirely 
from the skins or else trouble will ensue in the coloring of the 
leather. If sodium phosphate is used the phosphoric acid 
unites with the chromium, forming chromium phosphate, which 
is insoluble in water and also in very weak acids that might be 
employed in dyeing. In order that the free phosphoric acid 
may be removed something must be used that will produce the 
result and not effect a detriment to the skins. 

This is best accomplished by the use of bicarbonate of soda. 
The process is most suitably carried out in water at 90 to 100 
degrees Fahr. Very good results have been obtained by using 
from two to three per cent, of sodium phosphate of the weight 
of the skins for the first bath. Then allow this liquor to run 
ofT, after which put in about .05 per cent, of the sodium bicar- 
bonate and run the drum fifteen minutes, the temperature of 
the water being about 80 degrees Fahr. The first bath in 
which the sodium phosphate is used should be of the same 
temperature, and the drum be run from twenty to forty min- 
utes. The tanner using this process must remember that these 
figures do not apply to all classes of skins, and he must vary 
the quantities with their quality and condition. Borax, if used, 
should be well washed away. The two chemicals mentioned 
above are cheaper than borax. 

DRESSING FOR LEATHER FURNITURE. 
A dressing for leather furniture is made as follows : Put into 
a bowl one gill of hot water, half an ounce of annotto and half 

U71 ) • 



472 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

an ounce of white soap, shaved fine. Place the bowl in a pan 
of boiling water. Into another bowl put half an ounce of bees- 
wax, shaved fine, and place it in the pan of boiling water. Stir 
the contents of both bowls until they are melted, then take 
them from the fire. Into the melted wax stir one gill of tur- 
pentine, one gill of parafifine oil, and then the mixture of 
annotto, soap and water. Beat the mixture until it is cold, 
then put it in a wide-mouthed bottle or fruit jar for future use. 
This preparation may be used on brown or red leather. First 
wash the leather with a soft cloth or sponge and hot milk, then 
rub on the dressing with a soft cloth. If the leather be faded 
the dressing may be made darker by using two or three times 
the quantity of annotto. For dark green or black leather add 
a little logwood to the mixture. 

WATERPROOF LEATHER DRESSING IN PASTE FORM. 

Petrolatum 4 pounds. 

Burgundy pitch 4 ounces. 

Rosin 2 ounces. 

Ivory black (dry) 6 ounces. 

Beeswax 4 ounces. 

Melt the rosin, pitch and beeswax together, then add the 
petrolatum, and when melted stir in the ivory black and con- 
tinue stirring until cold. 

Apply the dressing to the leather with the fingers or a soft 
cloth, rubbing it well in. If the leather is dirty, wash it with a 
sponge and a little soap and warm water before applying the 
dressing. It gives a nice black, but not a high polish. It will 
make any piece of leather soft and pliable as when new if used 
according to directions, no matter how hard or watersoaked the 
leather has become. A strap treated in this way may be im- 
mersed in water for a week without absorbing any. Used as a 
shoe dressing it renders the use of rubbers unnecessary. 



RECEIPTS, FORMULAS, MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 473 

HARNESS BLACKING. 

Mutton suet 2 ounces. 

Yellow wax 6 ounces. 

Powdered sugar 4 ounces. 

Yellow soap 2 ounces. 

Lampblack i ounce. 

Indigo (powdered bluing) 4 ounces. 

Water 4 ounces. 

Oil of turpentine 4 ounces. 

Dissolve the soap in the water, add the other ingredients 
except the turpentine, melt and mix thoroughly together, then 
add the turpentine. 

This mixture is applied to the harness with a sponge and 
polished with a brush. 

OAK STAIN FOR HEMLOCK LEATHER. 

Extract of quercitron bark 13 pounds. 

Alum . . 10 pounds. 

Sumac 12 pounds. 

Boil in one-half barrelful of water until all is dissolved, then 
fill the barrel up with water and stir the liquor well before 
using it. Use at a temperature of 105 degress Fahr. with a 
brush after scouring, and apply very liberally. 

It is best to put the sumac in a bag. It will take a little 
longer to get the strength out, but it will not cause so much 
trouble in straining afterwards. 

OIL BLACK. 

Lampblack ... 20 pounds. 

Logwood extract 23^2 pounds. 

Tallow 70 pounds. 

Good bark liquor 12 gallons. 

After mixing, boil for twelve hours, and when cool stir well 
to keep from separating. This black is varied more or less to 
suit different leather, the same as finishes, as no one finish will 
work the same on all kinds of stock, and should be manipu- 
lated to get the best results. 



474 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

HOW TO MAKE CASTOR OIL SOAP. 
Castor oil soap is an excellent material for fat-liquor. It can 
be made in the tannery in the following manner: Dissolve two 
pounds of caustic soda in a gallon of water. Heat two and a 
half gallons of castor oil to 90 degrees Fahr., then pour the 
soda solution into the warm oil, continually stirring the mixture 
until it becomes thick. Cover up the tub containing the soap 
and let it stand over night in a warm place. The next day the 
soap is ready for use. It is advisable, but not absolutely 
necessary, to melt the soap again in a jacketed pan fitted with 
a stirring apparatus. By means of this apparatus a better and 
more even mixing of the soap is obtained. 

HOW TO SOFTEN HARD WATER. 
Water that is made hard by carbonate of lime may be soft- 
ened by the use of quicklime, sal soda or ammonia. When 
there is time to allow the water to settle, lime is the best mate- 
rial to use. To soften with lime have the water in a large tank 
or hogshead. Pour enough water on the quicklime to slake it. 
When it falls to powder add enough water to make a thin 
cream and then stir this into the water to be softened. Use 
one ounce of lime for every forty gallons of water. Do not let 
any undissolved lime go into the water. Allow it to stand for 
twelve hours. The carbon dioxide, which held the carbonate 
of lime in solution, will be absorbed by the lime and the liber- 
ated carbonate of lime will fall to the bottom, leaving the water 
soft. 

HOW TO CLEAN VATS AND DRUMS. 
The best way to clean a vat that has held bark or extract 
tan liquors is by the use of sal soda and sulphuric acid. Fill 
the vat with hot water and dissolve in it fifty pounds of sal 
soda. Let the water remain in the vat twenty-four hours, then 
run it ofif and fill the vat with clean, cold water ; then put sev- 
enty pounds of sulphuric acid into the water, plunge thoroughly 
and allow to stand twenty-four hours ; then run the acid water 



RECEIPTS, FORMULAS, MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 475 

off and the vat will be found to be free from all traces of vege- 
table tannic acid. 

Drums that have been used to dye leather black in cannot 
be very well cleaned so as to be employed for coloring lighter 
shades, but if used simply for dark shades of tan they may be 
cleaned with permanganate of potash and bisulphite bleach. 
Run a hot five per cent, solution of permanganate of potash in 
the drum for half an hour or so. Then draw it off, and a thick,, 
brown deposit of oxide of manganese will be found on the sur- 
face of the wood. This is then dissolved by a ten per cent, 
solution of bisulphite of soda, and a great deal of the color will 
also be taken off. If there is much color in the wood the 
treatment can be repeated. Finally the drum should be washed 
very thoroughly with several changes of hot water. 

HOW TO REMOVE STAINS FROM THE HANDS. 

Moisten slightly in the palm of the hand a teaspoonful of 
permanganate of potash, rub it thoroughly into the skin and 
wash. By the subsequent use of bisulphite of soda the per- 
mangate is completely removed, together with all aniline 
stains, etc. This treatment makes the hands soft and white 
and does not injure the skin. 

A GOOD CHROME LIQUOR. 

A satisfactory one-bath chrome liquor is made of five parts 
by weight of bichromate of potash to two parts by weight of 
glucose, each dissolved separately in water and the solutions 
then united. A quantity of sulphuric acid is next diluted with 
three or four times its weight of water, the acid being added to 
the water and not the water to the acid. The acid solution is 
then poured very slowly into the bichromate of potash and 
glucose liquor until the latter assumes a deep green color. 
Great heat is produced and the acid must be added very slowly. 
In using this liquor the skins are drummed in a solution of salt 
for ten minutes; then the chrome liquor is added, a small 
quantity at a time, and the goods are run in the liquor until 



4/6. PRACTICAL TANNING. 

they are tanned through. Heavy skins should be retanned 
after they have been shaved. 

The tanned skins are washed and shaved, next mordanted 
with sumac, palmetto or gambler and then fat-liquored. After 
they are fat-liquored, they are colored with acid dyes as they 
need not be set and are not easily removed. 

. POTASH SOAP. 
For any purpose for which a potash soap is required it is 
essential to use a pure article ; but unfortunately this is not 
always readily obtainable. To be sure of having a pure pro- 
duct, the safest course is to make it. This is easily done as 
pure caustic potash is readily obtained. A good soap can be 
made, even with crude appliances, according to the following 
formula : Put 224 pounds of red oil in a kettle and heat it to 
100 degrees Fahr. ; then run in slowly with constant stirring 
io)4 gallons of solution of caustic potash 60 degrees Twad. 
Allow to stand 24 hours, and the soap is made. 

PREPARING DEFIBRINED BLOOD. 

Thoroughly clean a barrel with hot water containing borax 
and fill it half full of fresh beef blood. Then take a stick or a 
broom handle and beat the blood well up for about twenty 
minutes. By this heavy beating the fibrin begins to thicken 
very soon, and it can then be removed with a shovel. 

The remaining fluid blood is purified and is called defibrined 
blood because the fibrin, the portion that wastes away, has 
been removed. To preserve the blood, one pint of pyrogallic 
acid is added to a barrel of it and mixed by stirring for several 
minutes. The blood must be kept in a cool place, and the 
barrel should always be closed after a supply has been taken 
out. The defibrined blood will keep for almost one year, and 
will furnish bright and good finishes. 

TO MAKE LEATHER W^ATERPROOF. 
Viscol applied to leather makes it waterproof. The best re- 
sults are obtained when the leather contains no oil or grease. 



4r 



RECEIPTS, FORMULAS, MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 477 

Glazed and patent leather, as well as dull and box finishes, can 
be easily viscolized. This treatment plumps the leather, gives 
it a better feel and preserves it by protecting it from water. 

The viscol is applied as follows : Pour it onto the flesh side 
of the leather by means of a dipper, and distribute it evenly 
over the surface with the hand until it has struck through to 
the grain and the leather absorbs no more of the liquid. When 
this is the case, quickly and thoroughly wipe off the excess of 
the dressing on the surface with a soft brush, returning the liquid 
to the dipper by drawing the brush firmly over the edge of the 
dipper. When the surface has been thoroughly wiped in this 
way the leather should be hung up to dry for about twenty- 
four hours. Care should be taken to avoid getting any of the 
dressing on the glazed surface of the leather. While it does 
not harm it in any way, there is the extra labor of removing it, 
which, however, can be easily done by rubbing it with a cloth 
wet with naphtha before the leather is hung up to dry. 

Leather improves if it is kept several weeks after treatment 
with viscol. If there is any oil or grease in it, viscol drives it 
to the glazed surface, and thus the bright finish becomes dull. 
The leather cannot be glazed after it has been treated with 
viscol ; for winter shoes it can be made absolutely impervious 
to water by the treatment described. Sole leather also can be 
viscolized. 

TO PREPARE STRIKER FOR TABLE COLORING. 
Dissolve four and one-half pounds of copperas and one and 
one-half pounds of blue vitriol in half a barrelful of water; fill 
the barrel up to a total of fifty gallons. For use on a machine, 
dissolve twelve pounds of copperas and four pounds of blue 
vitriol for each barrel. To the above add one and one-half 
pounds of nutgalls and one pound of Epsom salts to each six 
pounds of copperas and blue vitriol combined. Use this liquor 
after logwood to develop the black. 

TO CLEAN WHITE FUR RUGS. 
The best way to clean white fur and wool rugs is by the use 



4/8 PRACTICAL TANNING. • 

of powdered chalk and water. A thin paste is prepared by 
mixing chalk and water, which is thoroughly rubbed into the 
wool or hair side of the skin and then allowed to dry. After 
the paste is dry it is thoroughly brushed out with a stiff brush, 
and to finish a finer brush is used to remove every particle of 
chalk. This treatment takes away all dirt and grease and 
causes the skin to be not only clean but also soft and flufTy. 

BLACKING FOR THE EDGES OF CHROME LEATHER. 
The edges of chrome harness and other leathers can be 
blacked with the following blacking: Two pounds of logwood 
crystals, one and one-fourth pounds of black nigrosine and one 
and one-half pounds of sal soda are boiled in nine gallons of 
water and allowed to cool. One and one-half ounces of blue 
vitriol and one ounce of bichromate of potash are boiled in 
three quarts of water and allowed to cool ; the solution is then 
slowly stirred into the logwood liquor. The blacking is thor- 
oughly stirred, one pint of ammonia added, and then enough 
water poured into the vessel to make twelve gallons of blacking. 

TO PRESERVE BLOOD. 
Blood is much used as an ingredient of leather finishes and 
seasonings, and if not treated with some preservative, is apt to 
spoil quite rapidly. In order to keep it for some time, either 
carbolic acid or formaldehyde is added to it. One pound of 
carbolic acid crystals is dissolved and the solution stirred into 
the blood, this quantity being sufficient for a barrel of it. Five 
drops of formaldehyde mixed into a quart of blood also hinders 
the deterioration of the latter. 

TO HARDEN LEATHER. 
To harden welt leather, melt two hundred pounds of grape 
sugar in a kettle with seven gallons of fish oil. Heat the mix- 
ture to 135 degrees Fahr., and the mill to 150 degrees Fahr. 
Use eighteen per cent, of this mixture for one hundred pounds 
of welt leather. If properly applied, this will produce nice, 
firm welting. 



RECEIPTS, FORMULAS, MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 479 

To harden harness leather in hot weather, the following re- 
ceipt will produce good results. Melt two hundred pounds of 
stearine and fifty pounds of parafifin wax in a kettle at about 
135 degrees Fahr. Then heat the mill to 150 or 160 degrees 
Fahr. Add twenty pounds of this mixture to every one hun- 
dred pounds of wet harness leather ready to be stufifed. If this 
proportion is not enough make it twenty-five per cent. Mill 
the leather for thirty minutes and then remove it, hang it up 
to cool, and in due time it will be ready to set. 

IVORY OR CASTILE SOAP FAT-LIQUOR. 
A good fat-liquor for light upper and glove leathers is made 
of: 

Ivory or Castile Soap 10 pounds. 

Cod or Neatsfoot Oil 2 gallons. 

Egg Yolk 10 pounds. 

Shave or cut the soap and let. it soak some hours. Then 
boil it in a clean barrel with a few gallons of water until dis- 
solved. Next cut the oil by stirring into it two ounces of dis- 
solved borax. Then add the oil to the soap solution, stirring 
thoroughly for several minutes. Next add enough cold water 
to make forty-five gallons of liquor and then stir in the egg 
yolk. Apply this fat-liquor at 95 degrees Fahr., using two 
gallons or more for each dozen skins. The liquor should 
always be cooled by adding cold water before the egg yolk is 
stirred in. 

CASTOR OIL FAT-LIQUOR. 

For Chrome-tanned Skins. — For chrome-tanned skins, espe- 
cially colored ones, castor oil soap and castor oil make an 
excellent fat-liquor. One-half pound of the soap and three- 
fourths pound of the oil may be used in ten or twelve gallons 
of water for one hundred pounds of skins. The fat-liquor is 
prepared in the usual manner and applied at the usual temper- 
ature. 

For Vegetable-tanned Skins. — -Ten per cent, of castor oil 
soap and five per cent, of castor oil calculated on the weight 



480 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

of the dry leather make a good fat-liquor for vegetable, com- 
bination and bark tanned skins, making them well-filled and soft. 
They should be uniformly damp and drummed in the liquor 
until the oil and soap are entirely absorbed, then hung up and 
dried. Fat-liquoring can also be done immediately after the 
skins are tanned, washed and pressed ; they are then dried and 
colored later. Or they can be dried from the tan, then fat- 
Hquored, and finished. 

COLORING PROCESS FOR VEGETABLE-TANNED SKINS. 

Any kind of vegetable-tanned skins can be colored in the 
following manner: Sort the dry skins, dip them into warm 
water in a tub and place them in a pile, covered up, for twenty- 
four hours to become soft and dampened through. Take one- 
half pailful of sumac and scald it with boiling water for two 
hours in a closed vessel. When it is ready to use, add ten 
gallons of water and one gsillon of lactracine. This is sufTfi- 
cient liquor for ninety to one hundred skins. It should be 
used at 100 degrees Fahr., and the skins be drummed in it for 
twenty-five minutes. They should be put into the drum, the 
latter started and the liquor then poured in through the hollow 
axle. At the end of the twenty- five minutes, the liquor should 
be drained off, the solution of dye put into the drum and the 
skins run in it until colored. 

Very dark and India-tanned skins should be first washed in 
warm borax water, then cleared with sulphuric acid, washed, 
and then treated with sumac as described. 

BLACKING FOR VEGETABLE-TANNED LEATHER. 

The following is a good blacking for heavy vegetable-tanned 
shoe and harness leathers. Copperas, nine pounds; Epsom 
salts, one-fourth pound ; acetic acid, six ounces; nutgalls, one 
ounce. Put these ingredients into two gallons of soft water 
and boil until dissolved. Then put the solution into a barrel 
and add forty gallons of water; stir thoroughly and the black- 
ing is ready for use. 



RECEIPTS, FORMULAS, MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 48 1 

If the leather has a loose, open grain it is advisable to put 
into the barrel four or five gallons of strong gambler liquor in 
place of the same amount of water. This will tighten up the 
grain and prevent it from piping when finished. Another good 
receipt is : One barrel of gambler liquor showing 10 degrees 
test by the barkometer. To this add fifteen pounds of cop- 
peras, two pounds of Epsom salts, and four ounces of pow- 
dered nutgalls. Dissolve first the copperas and nutgalls in a 
pailful of hot water, then add the solution to the gambler 
liquor. This is especially suitable for quebracho-tanned har- 
ness leather. 

BLEACHING THE FLESH OF HEMLOCK-TANNED HARNESS 
LEATHER. 

A light oak appearance on hemlock harness leather may be 
secured by the use of brown sugar of lead and sulphuric acid. 
In a gallon of water is dissolved one pound of the sugar of 
lead and the solution is added to ten gallons of warm water. 
Twenty-five sides of leather are drummed in this solution 
twenty minutes. The waste liquor is then drawn ofif and a 
dilute solution of sulphuric acid put into the drum. To twelve 
gallons of water enough acid is added to make the water as 
sour as lemon juice; the leather is drummed in this solution 
fifteen minutes and then washed in clear water. 

The two solutions can also with good results be applied to 
the flesh. The sugar of lead solution is brushed evenly over 
the flesh, next the acid solution is applied and the leather then 
rinsed off. The hemlock color will be turned to a hght oak 
color by either of these treatments. 

RECEIPTS FOR MAKING SIG. 
I. To make one barrel of sig use either of the following 
formulas : 

Salts of tartar 12 pounds. 

Bichromate of potash 5 pounds. 

Ammonia 26° i quart. 

"Water 40 gallons. 

31 



482 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

Boil the salts of tartar and bichromate of potash in twelve 
gallons of water; when dissolved, add water to make forty 
gallons, and then the ammonia, stirring thoroughly. If kept for 
any length of time it may be necessary to add more ammonia. 

2. Use a fifty-gallon barrel and boil in twelve gallons of 
water 

Caustic soda 12 ounces. 

Salts of tartar 12 ounces. 

When dissolved, fill barrel with cold water. 

TO REMOVE GREASE SPOTS FROM LEATHER. 

If the spots are not very large they may be removed by lay- 
ing blotting paper on them and then ironing out with a hot 
steel. The heat dissolves the grease and causes it to pass from 
the leather into the paper. By several times repeating this 
process, the grease spots may be removed without injuring 
the leather. 

Another process consists in preparing a dough composed of 
one part cooked mashed potatoes and one part mustard flour 
prepared with turpentine. This preparation is put onto the 
grease spot and allowed to dry. When dry it is rubbed ofT 
and the spot is cleaned with a rag which has been dipped into 
wine vinegar; lukewarm water is finally used to wash out. 

TO REMOVE TANNIN FROM LEATHER. 

Prepare a two or three per cent, solution of sal soda ; use 
it at 115 degrees Fahr., and drum the leather in it for fifteen 
minutes. If this does not remove enough of the tannin, drain 
the solution ofif and drum the leather in a fresh solution fifteen 
minutes longer. Tannin can be safely extracted from leather 
in this way. 

GOOD FAT-LIQUOR FOR LIGHT CHROME LEATHER. 

The formula here given makes an excellent fat-liquor for light 
shoe or glove leather : 



RECEIPTS, FORMULAS, MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 483 

Fig. soap i)^ pounds. 

Neatsfoot oil ^^ pound. 

Olive oil ^ pound. 

Glycerine i^^ pounds. 

Yolks of eggs Twenty-five. 

Boil the soap in six gallons of water until it is dissolved, then 
add the oils and glycerine and stir thoroughly. When the 
mixture has cooled down to 85 degrees Fahr. add the yolks of 
eggs and a little salt. Enough water is then added to make a 
barrelful of fat-liquor. 

WHITEWASH FOR HIDE CELLARS AND BEAMHOUSES. 

A good whitewash is made in the following manner: Put a 
piece of lime weighing five pounds in a pan or pail, pour on it a 
gallon of water, allow it to boil, and slake until the steaming is 
over. Then put two quarts of the liquid lime into a pail and 
add sufficient water to make it rather thin. Add a small amount 
of blue indigo or bluing, sufficient to give the proper color; 
add a teaspoonful of salt and half a teaspoonful of lampblack, 
and stir well. A large quantity of whitewash can be made by 
using the proper proportions of material in larger quantities. 

An excellent whitewash is also made by adding a pound and 
a half of white vitriol, a pound of salt and half a pound of dis- 
solved glue to a peck of slaked lime. The salt and glue in the 
whitewash prevents it from rubbing ofT. 

Another good receipt is as follows : Slake twelve quarts of 
stone lime with boiling water, keep it covered till it cools a lit- 
tle and strain it ; add eight ounces of alum, two pounds of sugar, 
six pints of rice flour boiled to a thin paste with water, and two 
pounds of glue previously dissolved. Stir these ingredients 
well and add ten gallons of hot water. A small piece of cop- 
peras as large as a walnut will impart to it a buff shade. 

TO BLEACH SKINS WITH THE HAIR ON. 

Goat, sheep and lamb skins intended for rugs, robes, etc., can 
be bleached by using a solution prepared in the following man- 
ner: Four and one-half pounds of chloride of lime are mixed 



484 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

into twenty-one quarts of water, the solution being frequently 
stirred for some time. It is then allowed to stand until it has 
settled, when the clear liquor is drawn off into a solution of ten 
and one-half quarts of water, in which five and one-half pounds 
of Glauber's salt have been dissolved. A precipitation results 
which leaves hypochlorite of soda in solution. The clear liquor, 
which should be quite free from lime, is next drawn ofif and the 
skins are immersed therein until thoroughly bleached, which 
takes about two days. When bleached they should be rinsed 
off and then washed in weak suds of white soap in order to 
give them the necessary soft feel. Previous to bleaching they 
should be washed with warm suds and rinsed. Alum-tanned 
skins may require a retannage after bleaching. This is done by 
rubbing alum and salt into the flesh side before hanging them 
up to dry. 

DYEING CHROME AND OOZE LEATHERS BLACK WITHOUT 

LOGWOOD. 

Leather Black 4 B X is a dye that will produce, without the 
use of logwood, a deep black on chrome-tanned leather. The 
leather is first completely neutralized, washed and shaved, and 
then colored in a drum, with a solution of this dye, at from 12O' 
to 160 degrees Fahr,, the hotter the better; the solution of dye 
should contain one-half per cent, of borax. The leather is. 
then rinsed and finished. 

Leather Black J O in conjunction with Leather Black 4 B X 
produces a deep black color on ooze leather. The leather is 
first dyed with Leather Black 4 B X, then rinsed and dyed with 
Leather Black J O. These dyes can be obtained from L Leven- 
stein & Co., Boston, Mass. 

LOGWOOD LIQUOR. 

To make a logwood liquor of logwood crystals, hemolin or 
other logwood-product dye, use five pounds of the crystals and 
boil them in twenty gallons of water until dissolved ; then fill 
the barrel up with water, adding sal soda, borax or other alkali 



RECEIPTS, FORMULAS, MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 485 

to effect easy penetration, say from eight ounces to a pound to 
the barrelful of dye. The dye is now ready for use. Greasy 
leather requires more sal soda in the dye than stock that is not 
greasy ; a sig is also necessary. 

One and one-half pounds of logwood crystals and three or 
four ounces of alkali will color one hundred pounds of chrome 
leather. A deeper black than with logwood alone is produced 
by the addition of a few ounces of fustic paste to the logwood 
liquor. 

DYEING CHROME LEATHER WITH LOGWOOD AND NITRATE OF 

IRON. 

This process of dyeing leather black can be used on any 
class of chrome leather. The quantities of dyeing material re- 
quired for one hundred pounds of leather are: 

Logwood crystals 1 1/^ pounds. 

Black nigrosine I ounce. 

Acetic acid 1 1^ ounces. 

Nitrate of iron 3 ounces. 

Boil the logwood in three gallons of water, then add four gal- 
lons of water and drum the leather in the solution ten minutes; 
next dissolve the nigrosine in hot water and add it to the con- 
tents of the drum and drum ten minutes. In the meantime 
dissolve the acetic acid and nitrate of iron in two gallons of 
water, pour the solution into the drum at the end of the second 
ten minutes and allow the drum to rotate twenty minutes 
longer. The liquor should then be run off, the leather washed 
and fat-liquored. 

FINAL DRESSING FOR BOX CALF. 

Dissolve five ounces of extract of archil in one pint of warm 
wood alcohol ; also dissolve four ounces of blood albumen in 
six quarts of warm water. When thoroughly dissolved mix 
both solutions together by shaking vigorously in a tightly- 
corked jar. 



486 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

HIGH-GRADE SHOE POLISH. 
The formula given below produces a shoe polish in paste 
form that compares favorably with any on the market: 

Beeswax i pound. 

Ceresin i pound. 

Carnauba wax 6 ounces. 

Turpentine 3 pints. 

Yellow soap 6 ounces. 

Oil-soluble black aniline Enough to color. 

Water Sufficient. 

Shave the soap and dissolve it in the smallest possible quan- 
tity of water by means of heat; melt the waxes together; add 
the turpentine and stir well ; then add the aniline dye and stir 
in the soap solution, continuing to stir until cold. The con- 
sistence of the paste may be varied by using more or less tur- 
pentine and water. 

FINISH FOR COMBINATION BOX CALF LEATHER. 

Dissolve four ounces of methyl violet aniline 6 B in ten 
quarts of water and boil until dissolved. After cooling, add six 
quarts of ammonia and twelve gallons of beef blood, and then 
carefully a cold solution of eight ounces of bichromate of pot- 
ash dissolved in ten quarts of water. Also add two and one- 
half pounds of logwood extract boiled in six gallons of water, 
but do not mix in until this solution is cold. Add a little car- 
bolic acid, strain the mixture, and it is ready for use. Glaze 
and grain the leather. 

TO PREVENT THE PLEATING OF LIGHT SKINS DURING 
GLAZING. 
One of the greatest difficulties encountered in the finishing^ 
of light skins, especially chrome-tanned stock, is the ease with 
which they pleat while being glazed. On account of the soft 
and thin condition of the leather the glass is apt to form deep 
and sharp folds by laying over the grain, all efforts to remove 
them leaving the leather in a half-damaged condition. If the 
leather is very soft and thin the most skilful finisher cannot 



RECEIPTS, FORMULAS, MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 487 

prevent these folds, and during the glazing operation there is 
constant danger of damaging the skins. Sometimes the glass 
cannot pass over the fold, and the skin is either torn or is 
dragged along and becomes badly crumpled and soiled. Injury 
to the workman has often occurred in his efforts to save the 
skin. These difficulties can be avoided, at least to some degree, 
by tacking the skins while wet on frames or boards after they 
have been staked, and glazing for the first time directly off the 
frames or boards while they are flat and stiff. They will be 
flat and sufficiently stifif to prevent the grain from pleating. If 
glazed once they will glaze easily a second time, even if they 
are staked after the first glazing. Another remedy consists in 
applying a weak tannin solution to the grain. The etTect of 
this is to cause the glass to slip with greater ease than when the 
skins are dry, and the danger of pleating the grain is thereby 
somewhat prevented. Moistening and tacking the skins is, in 
the writer's judgment, the best way to stififen them so that they 
can be glazed the more readily the first time. 

TO BOIL LOGWOOD CHIPS. 
Put the chips into a coarse bag, tie it and put it into the 
water. Turn on steam and boil thoroughly. The chips should 
be put loosely into the bag. As soon as they are sufficiently 
boiled they should be taken out of the liquor, as the strength 
will go back into them when the liquor cools if they are left in. 
Some of the sal soda or borax used to cut the grease should be 
dissolved in the liquor before the chips are taken out. When 
they are boiled loosely in the liquor the latter should be 
strained immediately after boiling to remove them. Copper 
pipe or coil should always be used, since iron pipes, especially 
rusty ones, cause the leather to have a defective color. 

THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF CHROME SORES. 
Workmen employed in chrome leather tanneries where the 
two-bath process is used are often afflicted with what are com- 
monly called chrome sores. These sores are caused by the 



488 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

poisonous bichromate of potash and acid liquor that constitute 
the first bath. Unless properly attended to, they are apt to 
eat very deep into the flesh and to become very painful. Ordi- 
nary ointments and salves do not seem to have any efifect 
although they help some, if the workman will take up some 
other line of work. An ointment which is said to be a very 
efficacious preventive of the sores was originated by Dr. Lewis 
Levi, chemist of the Pfister and Vogel Leather Co., of Mil- 
waukee, Wis., and has been used by him in the treatment of 
them. The formula is as follows: 

Petrolatum 3 parts. 

Lanolin i part. 

Melt on a water-bath or stove ; when melted and thoroughly 
mixed add five drops of 90 per cent, pure carbolic acid to every 
four ounces of the mixture. Pour the mixture into a glass or 
earthenware jar and allow it to solidify, when it is ready for 
use. 

The ointment should be applied as follows : Let the work- 
man clean his hands and arms thoroughly with soap and water. 
Rinse with warm water and while the skin is moist apply the 
ointment. Rub in well so as to cover all exposed skin, for 
about two or three minutes. Then wipe dry with a clean cloth. 
The skin will be left entirely dry and with no greasy feeling. 
This ointment can also be used for chapped hands. For those 
who work in water, it has shown itself to be an excellent pre- 
ventive against the effects of the rapid change of temperature 
from warm to freezing. To prevent chrome sores apply the 
ointment once or twice daily. To prevent and cure chapped 
hands apply it as for chrome sores. This ointment can also 
be used with excellent results for burns, scalds, etc. The 
theory for the use of the ointment is as follows : Lanoline is 
absorbed by the skin and petrolatum forms a light coating on 
the surface. The application of the two inert substances pre- 
vents the action of the chrome upon the surface, and should 
the outer coating of petrolatum wear off, its action is at the 
same time prevented by the absorbed grease. Tests and trials 
have proved that this ointment will do all that is claimed for it. 



RECEIPTS, FORMULAS, MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 489 

A five per cent, solution of sodium bisulphite is recom- 
mended by Herman S. Riederer, Ph. D., as a wash for chrome 
sores. Practical demonstration has proved the efficacy of this 
treatment. A workman had a sore for eight or nine months, 
as it could not be bandaged to keep it clear of continuous in- 
fection by chrome compounds. Sodium bisulphite solution 
was applied twice each day. About the second or third 
day the pains disappeared, and whereas before treatment the 
whole region of the sore was very sensitive, it could now be 
manipulated so as to work the solution into all parts of the 
sore, which had spread about three-quarters of an inch from 
the original point of infection and extended a considerable dis- 
tance under the skin beyond the opening of the wound. The 
sore was completely healed in about three weeks. Incipient 
sores put under the treatment healed naturally without any un- 
usual scar. Workmen in a chrome plant were given this solu- 
tion to use as a supplementary wash after work and a decided 
improvement in their condition was immediately apparent. 
P'ew sores appeared, and those were easily checked and cured, 
giving the men a possibility of attending to their work regu- 
larly and efficiently. 

Chrome sores are caused by a small amount of chromate or 
bichromate getting into a scratch or other wound and then eat- 
ing along under the skin, often for some distance from the 
place of initial infection. A watery excretion, generally more 
or less green, is usually present. A scab which forms at times 
is no indication of healing. The pains are very severe, occa- 
sionally interrupting, and even preventing, sleep. Rubber 
gloves should be worn by the workmen who handle the bichro- 
mate of potash and the skins from the first bath, and the oint- 
ment should also be applied to the hands and arms. And as 
soon as a sore appears, if one does, appear in spite of the pre- 
cautions, the sodium bisulphite solution should be used. 

ACID BURNS. 
Strong acids, such as sulphuric and muriatic, coming in con- 



490 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

tact with the skin cause great pain and destroy the tissues. 
Dilute ammonia, chalk, carbonate of magnesia, or some other 
alkali should at once be applied to neutralize the acid. After 
an hour or so the following mixture should be applied : Olive 
oil, two ounces ; lime water, two ounces ; carbolic acid, fifteen 
drops. Wet a soft cloth with this mixture and apply, changing 
two or three times a day, if necessary. Linseed oil may be 
used in place of olive oil. This preparation should be kept on 
hand in tanneries, as acid burns occur quite frequently. 

BRIGHT BLACKING VARNISH FOR SHOE LEATHER. 

This varnish comes very handy to parties running a small 
shop who want to produce bright black polish on grain shoe 
leather of any tannage and yet have not the necessary machin- 
ery for doing such work as it is done in large factories. 

Dissolve in a bottle, tightly corked, one ounce of caoutchouc 
in one ounce carbon bisulphide and let the solution stand a few 
days. Next dissolve three ounces of orange shellac, half an 
ounce of gum sandarac, one and a half ounces of gum mastic 
and five ounces of pure Venetian turpentine in two quarts of 
alcohol. Add the turpentine after the other gums are dis- 
solved. When all three materials are well mixed add the 
caoutchouc solution. Put the vessel containing the complete 
mixture in another vessel of hot water and heat to about 120 
degrees Fahr. Then add one ounce of black aniline. Keep 
the whole for about one hour in water at 120 degrees Fahr. 
Then put in a jar, cork tightly, and let it stand for at least two 
weeks before using. It improves with age. 

For use, dissolve two ounces of gelatine (isinglass) in a quart 
of water and boil until dissolved. To this add one ounce of 
indigo blue and then two quarts of cold water. Let the solu- 
tion cool and place it so as to see that the mixture is not too 
thick, as the heat of the shop or summer weather has much to 
do with the amount of water that gelatine will absorb. The 
mixture should be like thin jelly. 

The mixture is prepared by heating the gelatine a little and 



RECEIPTS, FORMULAS, MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 49 1 

straining through cheese-cloth; then mix equal parts alcohol, 
gum and gelatine, and stir until it sets or gets thick. While 
stirring add to each gallon of the mixture one and one-half 
ounces of glycerine. When it is well set it is ready to be 
applied to the leather. 

Two thin coats should be evenly spread on the grain with a 
sponge and well rubbed in with a fine sponge or with a soft 
hairbrush in a warm room. Let the first coat get dried in 
before applying the second. After the last coat is absorbed, 
glaze the leather slightly by hand so as to produce the soft 
feeling the stock had before the varnish was applied. If these 
instructions are carefully carried out the result will surprise and 
please whoever tries the experiment. 

LACTIC ACID IN COLORING LEATHER. 

When leather has a greasy grain it should be opened and 
cleared before any dye is applied. Dissolve one gallon of lac- 
tic acid in a barrel of fifty gallons of warm water and drum the 
skins in this solution thirty minutes. When the basic 
aniline colors are to be used it is necessary to wash the skins 
in warm water after this treatment, but if acid anilines are to be 
employed, washing is not necessary. Sheep leather dyers have 
found that by giving their skins this treatment they are enabled 
to get clearer and more even colors, as this operation not only 
clears the grain of greasy matter, but at the same time opens 
up the grain a little and allows the dyestuff to go on evenly. 

Lactic acid and bichromate of potash in solution are useful 
as a mordant and striker. To fifty gallons of warm water add 
two pounds of the potash and one gallon of the acid. On light 
colors this solution may be used at the end of the dyeing opera- 
tion as a striker and evener. In the case of making dark colors, 
such as browns, chocolates, dark tans, etc., it should be em- 
ployed as a mordant. For some dark colors it is desirable to 
use a solution of the mordant, then apply the dye, and strike 
with copperas. 



492 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

HOW TO GET A BTUE BACK WITH NIGROSINE. 

For each dozen chrome-tanned sides or an equivalent num- 
ber of skins, dissolve eight ounces Nigrosine P. in water at I20 
degrees Fahr. ; put the solution into the drum, together with 
the leather, and run the drum twenty minutes, or until the color 
is well taken up. Now drain off the water, press or strike out 
the leather and fat-liquor it ; then black the grain with logwood 
and striker, oil the grain with sperm, neatsfoot or parafifine oil, 
■dry the leather, and proceed to finish it in the usual way. The 
back of the leather will be dark blue and the grain jet black as 
a result of this treatment. 

HOW TO CLEAN BARRELS. 

It is sometimes necessary to cleanse barrels or other wooden 
vessels. A solution of sal soda should be used. The barrel 
should be filled half full of boiling water, and a solution of two 
pounds of soda in a gallon of hot water poured in and the water 
thoroughly stirred. The barrel should then be filled to the 
bung with water and allowed to stand twelve hours or longer, 
when it should be emptied, filled with pure water, left a few 
hours and then thoroughly rinsed, when it will be ready for 
use. Another way to cleanse a barrel is to put a few pounds 
of unslaked lime into it, add water and cover. After a few 
hours add more water and roll the barrel. Rinse thoroughly 
with clean water. 

TO KEEP PATENT LEATHER SOFT AND TO RESTORE THE GLOSS. 

Add to some pure wax, melted in a dish set in a pan of boil- 
ing water, some olive oil and then some lard. Mix thoroughly 
by stirring over a fire. Add some oil of turpentine and a little 
oil of lavender. This will form a paste, which should be put in 
boxes. Apply with a soft rag; rub with flannel. 

FORMULA FOR PRODUCING PLUMP LEATHER. 

Soaking. — Dissolve five pounds of borax in hot water and 
add the solution to looo gallons of water; soak the hides from 



RECEIPTS, FORMULAS, MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 493 

twenty-four to forty-eight hours, changing the water if neces- 
sary when they are very dirty. They should be as clean as 
possible before they are put into the lime. 

Liming. — The best process depends somewhat on the kind 
of stock being made. Starting the hides in new and strong 
limes and finishing up in weak ones makes the leather very 
plump as well as soft, but as extreme plumping at the start 
tends to weaken the fibers, it is better to start liming in weak 
limes and finishing up in strong ones. 

Bating. — Place the sides in a vat provided with a wheel, into 
which a solution of three pounds each of sulphuric acid, borax 
and Glauber salts, thoroughly dissolved, has been brought, to- 
gether with about six barrels of water, or enough to cover the 
hides. Five hours will be long enough to keep them in, pro- 
vided they are quite often stirred with the wheel. The same 
process in a vat without a wheel will take thirty-six hours. 

Tanning. — Suspend the hides in a liquor made up by put- 
ting six pounds of borax (dissolved) into a vat containing about 
twelve hundred gallons of weak hemlock liquor. Keep them 
in until the color is struck, then pump the liquor into a leach 
of bark, and steel it for a second run; add no more borax until 
after the third run, then add two and a half pounds of it 
(dissolved) to the liquor that is to be pumped into the leach 
for the fourth run. Then finish up the tanning with quermos 
or quebracho extract liquors. In depending too much upon 
quebracho as a tanning agent without anything else, plumping 
and filling qualities are lost, which are gained by using hemlock 
bark or extract liquor as a striker. Be sure and use the borax 
as directed. 

FAT-LIQUOR FOR COMBINATION-TANNED LEATHER. 

Boil twenty-five pounds of Palermo fig soap in a half-barrel- 
ful of water, then stir in fifty pounds of English sod oil and one 
and a half gallons of any other good leather oil, saponify thor- 
oughly and add water to make fifty gallons of fat-liquor. 

When the leather is taken from the tan, press out the surplus 



494 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

liquor and let it lay in a pile for forty-eight hours. Heat the 
drum with hot air or steam and add one gallon of No. i Clarified 
Leather Oil to each one hundred and fifty pounds of leather 
and drum the latter forty minutes, or until the oil is taken up. 
Now take the leather from the drum and hang it up to dry ; 
when dry, wet it in a tub of warm water and leav^e it a few hours 
in piles to soften. 

Shave the leather if necessary to make it of uniform thickness, 
then put it into the drum and run it with just enough water to 
wet all parts alike ; drain off any water in the drum and add 
twenty gallons of fat-liquor, at IIO degrees Fahr., to each one 
hundred pounds dry-weight stock. More or less fat-liquor may 
be used as required by the particular tannage, this being the 
maximum quantity. 

Drum the fat-liquor well into the leather, then hang the stock 
up and dry it again, 

EUROPEAN FAT-LIQUORS. 

The following formulas for fat-liquors are frequently used by 
European tanners of chrome leather: 

1. One pint neatsfoot oil and oae pint -cod oil are stirred 
together with one pint of a ten per cent, solution of soda, and 
this mixture is poured, stirring continually, into a hot solution 
of three pounds soap chips in six pints of boiling water. 

Five to ten per cent, of the shaver's weight is then added to 
the necessary amount of water, i. e., for one hundred pounds of 
leather (shaver's weight) about ten gallons of hot water are 
taken. 

2. Four pounds of soft soap are dissolved in one gallon of 
boiling water; then add one and one-half pounds of degras and 
twelve ounces of soda previously dissolved in water. Five to 
ten per cent, of this mixture is thinned with the necessary 
amount of water as above. 

3. Five pounds of soap chips are dissolved in sufficient boil- 
ing water; then warm four pints of neatsfoot oil and stir it into 
the soap solution. Dilute the emulsion as above. 



RECEIPTS, FORMULAS, MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 495 

4. Dissolve six pounds of soft soap in boiling water, then add 
five pints of linseed oil, continually stirring until a good emul- 
sion is obtained. Dilute as above. 

5. Ten pounds of soap chips are dissolved in boiling water, 
then add four gallons of neatsfoot oil and ten pounds of egg 
yolk. Stir thoroughly and dilute as above. 

6. Fifteen parts of olive oil soap are emulsified with four and 
one-half parts of olive oil, and diluted as above. 

7. For fancy shades Professor Procter recommends the fol- 
lowing fat-liquor: Half per cent, castor oil soap or olive oil 
soap and three-fourths per cent, castor oil are stirred together 
until properly emulsified, and then diluted with hot water. 

8. This fat-liquor is recommended by Jettmar : Three 
pounds of castor oil soap, two and one-half pounds of glycerine, 
one and one-half pounds of castor oil emulsified with ten pints 
of boiling water. 

These receipts will prove sufficient for all wants ; and a 
practical man should, by using them or by varying the quanti- 
ties of the ingredients to suit his individual purpose, be able to 
turn out a good quality leather with them. 

After drumming for about thirty minutes, the skins will have 
absorbed the whole of the fat, and the remaining liquor should 
be quite clear. They are then taken out of the drum, horsed 
and allowed to hang for a time to give the fat-liquor a chance 
to settle well into them. After this they are rinsed ofif in warm 
water, struck out, oiled and hung up to dry. 

CHROME ALUM TANNING LIQUORS. 

A one-bath chrome tanning liquor that produces fine full 
leather with a smooth grain is made in the following manner : 

Dissolve ten parts of chrome alum in sufficient water and 
allow the solution to cool. In another vessel dissolve three 
parts soda in warm water. Add sufficient of the soda solu- 
tion to the chrome alum liquor until a permanent precipi- 
tate is just dissolved and a clear liquor is obtained. With this 
solution make a fairly weak tanning bath to start with and, after 



496 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

the skins have been in the liquor two or three hours, add more 
of the chrome solution, continuing to add liquor to the bath at 
short intervals, until they are struck through with the green 
liquor. The old tanning bath may be used for a fresh lot of 
skins, and a new bath then made into which the second lot of 
them is placed when the first bath is used up, and so on. 
When tanned, the skins should be washed in a two per cent, 
borax bath and then in clean water until the superfluous acid is 
neutralized. 

Another very simple tanning liquor is made of chrome alum, 
soda and salt. Take ten per cent, of the weight of the skins of 
chrome alum (ten pounds of chrome alum for one hundred 
pounds of skins) and dissolve it in sufficient water, then dissolve 
separately two and a half to three and a half per cent, of soda. 

Add the soda solution to the chrome alum until a permanent 
precipitate of chrome oxyhydrate begins to form, and then a 
small quantity of common salt. This simple tanning liquor is 
used quite extensively in Europe. 

ANOTHER FORMULA. 

Dissolve fifty pounds of chrome alum crystals in ten gallons 
of water. In another vessel dissolve twenty-five pounds of car- 
bonate of soda in ten gallons of water. Also dissolve twelve 
pounds of chromic acid in six gallons of hydrochloric acid. 
When all is dissolved mix in a fifty-gallon barrel, first the 
chrome alum, then the soda, and lastly the chromic acid. Stir 
well and fill the barrel up with water to make forty-eight gallons. 
This will tan eight hundred pounds of pickled skins. 

Dissolve by boiling in fifteen gallons of water six pounds of 
sulphate of alumina. In another tub dissolve by boiling in 
fifteen gallons of water six pounds of sal soda. Pour the latter 
solution slowly and with constant stirring into the alumina solu- 
tion and let the mixture stand over night. The two solutions 
combined form a milky-white liquor. 

Weigh the pack of skins to be tanned and put it into the 
tanning drum. For every hundred pounds of skins put ten 



RECEIPTS, FORMULAS, MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 497 

pounds of salt and five gallons of water into the drum, start the 
drum and run it fifteen minutes. Heat three gallons of the 
alumina soda liquor for each hundred pounds of skins to 80 
degrees Fahr. and pour it into the drum. Drum the stock in 
the liquor thirty minutes, then begin to add the chrome liquor- 
Six gallons of the tan liquor will tan one hundred pounds of 
skins. Pour one gallon into the drum at a time at intervals of 
one-half hour, and drum eight hours in all. Let the skins re- 
main in the liquor over night, then wash, shave, color and fat- 
liquor them. If the stock is heavy and is to be split and shaved 
after it is tanned, use four gallons of tan liquor and tan five 
hours, then split and shave it, and next retan with three gallons 
of tan liquor for each hundred pounds of leather. When re-' 
tanned, wash the leather, using one pound of borax dissolved 
in three gallons of warm water for each hundred pounds of it. 
Wash in this one-half hour, then wash it in cold water for one 
hour, or until perfectly clean, when it is ready to be colored. 

Chrome alum should be dissolved in cold water, stirring con- 
stantly. A good way to dissolve it is to use the revolving drum, 
which hastens solution. The addition of common salt to a 
chrome alum solution converts it into chromium chloride. The 
use of chrome alum, soda and salt is the cheapest way to make 
a chrome liquor. 

A liquor for one hundred and twenty pounds of skins may be 
made as follows : Thirteen pounds of chrome alum are dissolved 
in thirteen quarts of water at 65 to 70 degrees Fahr. ; to this 
solution are added two and one-half pounds of common salt dis- 
solved in a gallon of warm water. In another vessel four and 
a half pounds of sal soda are dissolved in three gallons of warm 
water. The sal soda solution is slowly added to the chrome 
alum solution until the liquor begins to get cloudy, which indi- 
cates that the chrome alum is nearly neutralized and the liquor 
is basic. Chrome leather becomes fuller and finer the more 
nearly the chrome alum solution approaches the point of pre- 
cipitation. Salt tends to give the leather a soft feel, and the 
grain a fine break, and soda tends to give fulness. When no 
32 



498 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

salt is employed the leather is hard and tight, lacking in elas- 
ticity. Using the liquor at 85 degrees Fahr. hastens the tanning 
and produces a soft leather. Enough liquor fed slowly to the 
stock must always be used, so as not to close the pores and 
prevent penetration. The skins are tanned when a cutting 
shows a blue-green color clear through and a white fiber when 
the leather is scraped with a knife. Fully tanned chrome 
leather will stand boiling, while imperfectly tanned skins will 
not. Overtanning is as bad in one way as undertanning is in 
another. The former weakens the fiber of the leather and 
makes the skins too soft and spongy; the latter results in hard, 
tight leather that will not carry grease and that cannot be 
properly finished. 

TO PREVENT COLORED LEATHER FROM FADING. 

A dressing of borax and shellac is said to prevent the color 
of furniture and other leather from fading. It is made as fol- 
lows : Boil one ounce of borax in three quarts of water and add, 
while it is boiling, one and one-half ounces of shellac and just 
enough aniline dye of the same color as the leather to match 
the shade. The mixture is then allowed to cool and is ready 
for use. This dressing should be applied to the leather with a 
soft sponge, slowly and with care, to prevent streaks. Care 
must be taken, too, in selecting the shade to correspond with 
the color of the leather. After the dressing has been applied 
the leather should be hung up by the neck, grain side out, to 
dry. When dry it should be rubbed lightly with a soft woolen 
cloth or brushed over a felt wheel. This dressing does not 
affect the character of the leather, but the correct proportions 
of ingredients must be used, as if made stronger the mixture is 
apt to make the grain brittle. The leather should be well 
brushed, and if dirty washed with warm water, if possible, before 
the dressing is applied. 

A dressing made of casein and ammonia is also said to be 
effective in preventing the fading of colored leather. Boil a pint 
of water. As soon as it begins to boil add half a pint of spirit 



RECEIPTS, FORMULAS, MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 499 

t)f ammonia, and then dissolve in it about two ounces of casein. 
Stir the mixture well until solution is complete, and then dilute 
with water to about six quarts. This dressing can be applied 
at once to the leather after coloring, while still moist, evenly 
and lightly until it penetrates. If the leather is dry the dress- 
ing must be laid on still more lightly. This solution of casein 
can also be applied to made-up articles, such as saddlery. The 
leather should be clean before the dressing is applied, and then 
dried in a warm room and rubbed with a soft woolen cloth. 

BLACK FOR WAX CALF, KIP, UPPER AND SPLITS. 

This black can be used on all kinds of wax stock, such as 
calf, kip, upper and flesh or grain splits. It produces a very 
close foundation for a fine wax finish : 

Six pounds of French velvet-black, three pounds of castile 
soap, two pounds of common soap, four pounds of tallow, five 
gallons of cod oil, one gallon of raw linseed oil, one pound of 
beeswax, one beef gall. 

Put the black in a keg together with the cod oil on top of the 
black, cover it over night, next boil the soap in about three 
pailfuls of water until dissolved, then add the tallow. Keep the 
whole boiling. Then add the black that has stood with the oil 
over night and stir it thoroughly to get it well mixed. Add the 
beeswax, beef gall and linseed oil. Stir well, and while boiling 
slowly add seven pailfuls of water; pailful after pailful. After it 
is all well boiled cover it over with a bag and stir it every two 
hours the first day. Next morning stir a couple of times ; it is 
then ready for use. 

This dressing produces a beautiful deep black and gives a 
close, fine appearance to any fiber to which it may be applied. 

HOW TO PREPARE SIDE LEATHER OR SKINS FOR BLACKING AND 
FOR YELLOW-BACKING KANGAROO. 

After the leather is stuffed and comes from the dry loft put 
it into the drum. For one hundred skins or eighty kips or 
seventy sides use four pounds of turmeric, three pounds of soap 



500 PRACTICAL TANNING. 

and three pounds of Wyandotte Tanner's Soda. Dissolve the 
soap and soda in one-half barrelful of water. Then thoroughly 
dissolve the turmeric or auramine, which is occasionally used by 
some tanners, and add it to the soda and soap solution, making 
of it three quarters of a barrelful. Pour this liquor into the 
drum and run for twenty minutes, after which, if desired, the 
leather may be treated with sumac. It is then ready to be 
blacked. Some tanners do not dry the leather after stuffing, 
but put it in piles for six hours, then put it in a drum and 
color the flesh yellow. 

BLACKING FOR HARNESS LEATHER, KANGAROO LEATHER, 
CHROME LEATHER AND OTHER BLACK STOCK. 

Dissolve two and one-half gallons of copperas in fifty gallons 
of water. When thoroughly dissolved add from three to four 
pounds of Wyandotte Tanner's Soda to the copperas solution, 
stirring thoroughly while the soda is being added. The soda 
neutrahzes the sulphuric acid that is in the copperas, thus pro- 
ducing an iron-black. Let the solution stand for forty-eight 
hours. Do not stir, as there will be a sediment which will set- 
tle in the bottom of the barrel which should not be used. 
Before using this solution skim ofif any scum that may have 
formed on the surface. Then dissolve five pounds of nigrosine 
in about twenty gallons of water. Add the copperas solution 
to the nigrosine solution in quantities for immediate use only. 
Care should be taken not to make this solution too strong, as 
it may smut the leather. This blacking may be applied to any 
stock upon which it is customary to use logwood or copperas. 



APPENDIX. 



VARIOUS PATENTS RELATING TO TANNING, 
WITH SPECIFICATIONS. 



Coloring Chroime Leather with Permanganate of Potash. 

The process of coloring leather with permanganate of potash, as 
described below, is a new and patented one. By its use, it is claimed, 
coloring can be economically effected and deep, rich and permanent 
shades of black obtained. Although this process is practicable for hides 
and skins of all descriptions, it is here described as used on chrome- 
tanned goatskins. Other leathers may be colored in the same manner 
with such changes in the quantity of materials employed, and in the 
manipulations as their different sizes and characters would require. 

In a suitable coloring drum are placed , say , four hundred and fifty 
pounds of skins as they come from the shaving machines, together with 
thirty gallons of warm water, and the drum is then closed. Now dis- 
solve two and a half pounds of permanganate of potash in forty-five 
gallons of warm water, and after adding to the solution two and one- 
half pounds of muriatic acid, 21 degrees Baum^, pour it into the drum 
through the gudgeon. Run the drum ten minutes, then stop it and 
allow the liquor which is now spent to run off. Close the drum again 
and allow it to rotate, and add as before, through the gudgeon, two 
gallons of iron liquor which has been mixed with forty- five gallons of 
warm water. After the drum has run ten minutes stop it and allow the 
spent liquor to run oiif. Next dissolve in forty- five gallons of warm 
water three pounds of extract of logwood or other suitable vegetable 
extract and three pounds of sal soda, and after the drum has been 
closed and started to rotating add the logwood and soda liquor by pour- 
ing it through the gudgeon. After ten minutes stop the drum, open it 
and remove the skins. The coloring process is now complete and the 
skins should be washed thoroughly, preferably in a turster, with warm 
water for twenty minutes, then fat-liquored and finished. The iron 
liquor referred to above may be prepared by dissolving scrap iron in 
dilute commercial acetic acid, and the solution when ready for use 
should show 10 degrees Baumd. But any suitable ferrous salt may be 
used. The temperature of the warm water referred to above should be 

(501) 



502 APPENDIX. 

about no degrees Fahr. in summer, and from 120 degrees to 125 
degrees Fahr. in winter. 

Muriatic acid must never be added to a hot concentrated solution of 
permanganate of potash , as this would result in the evolution of chlorine 
and the formation of manganous chloride , which is not the salt of man- 
ganese desired. The muriatic acid is added to the permanganate solu- 
tion when all the required quantity of water is present. As an acidu- 
lated solution of permanganate of potash strikes very quickly on leather, 
there must be a sufficient amount of water present in the drum to secure 
even distribution over it. Skins that have not been washed clean from 
the hypo bath should have the requisite amount of acid added to the 
first thirty gallons of water referred to. The permanganate dissolved in 
water is added after an interval of about five minutes. 

To determine whether a sufficient amount of permanganate has been 
used, throw a skin over a horse exposed to the sunlight and observe 
after an interval of fifteen or twenty minutes whether or not the brown 
color is uniform and even. If light streaks or spots develop it is evi- 
dence that the sulphurous acid in the leather has not entirely neutralized.^ 
Such leather should have more permanganate, but it must always be borne 
in mind that permanganate of potash is a powerful oxidizing agent, and 
can be safely employed only in very dilute solutions. 

On bark and vegetable-ianned leather weaker solutions of perman- 
ganate than those above prescribed for chrome leather should be used. 
When chrome- tanned skins are treated with an acidulated solution of 
permanganate of potash all of the latter quickly combines with the 
leather, imparting to it a brown color. It is to some extent reduced by 
the leather itself, and it thoroughly destroys any sulphurous acid present 
that has been carried over from the hypo bath. Following this with a 
ferrous salt, all the remaining permanganate compound is reduced to an 
insoluble modification, and the ferrous salt is oxidized to a ferric state 
and is at once absorbed by the stock. The final treatment with log- 
wood and soda forms a perfectly insoluble and permanent jet black 
which will last as long as the leather itself. 

The function of the soda is not merely to assist in the formation of 
the color-lake by neutralizing the acid liberated from the iron liquor, 
but it is necessary to have sufficient alkali present to neutralize all of 
the acid in the stock which has been taken up from previous steps of 
the process, as well as any acid carried over from the hypo bath. The 
leather should be neutral, or only very slightly, but never very, alkaline. 
After this treatment it can be washed perfectly clean, it being placed in 
a drum and not removed until all the coloring operations are completed , 
saving thus much handling and labor. 

Only very small quantities of the chemicals used are required for a 
large number of skins, which makes the process not only a very eco- 
nomical one, effecting a considerable saving over present methods, 
but also secures the softest possible method of applying coloring mate- 
rials, as the grain is never in the least roughened or contracted. 



APPENDIX. 503 

The stock being thoroughly washed and cleaned before staining and 
fat-liquoring, and all sulphurous acid being eliminated, there is no 
chance for skins colored by this method showing any bloom or spew 
when finished. 

The remarkably fine, smooth, silky feel which permanganate of 
potash imparts to leather is retained and emphasized by the subsequent 
treatment. It is also claimed that stock colored by this process will 
glaze much brighter and have a superior finish, more permanent and 
lasting, than when colored by any other method. 

In working this process the inventor found that the best results were 
obtained by using the quantities of the materials and the manipulations 
specified, but he does not confine himself either to these proportions or 
to these methods of manipulation, as considerable modifications can be 
made without departing from the essential features of the process. It 
is patented by William M. Norris, of Princeton, N. J. 

THE USE OF PERMANGANATE OF POTASH IN COLORING LEATHER. 

One important advantage gained from the use of permanganate of 
potash is that about one-half the quantity of logwood liquor usually 
employed will be found sufficient. This effects a considerable saving. 

The beneficial effects of permanganate of potash to chrome-tanned 
goatskins intended for glazed kid must be apparent to those who have 
given it a careful trial. The question is how to apply it with the least 
trouble and labor to produce the best results. Either of two methods 
may be followed. 

I St. In a reel containing six hundred and fifty gallons of water add 
five pounds of permanganate of potash, which has been previously dis- 
solved in a little hot water. The temperature of the bath should be 
about 110 degrees Fahr. The skins upon coming from the tanning 
liquors are thoroughly washed and are then entered into the above bath. 
After remaining in the bath, with the paddles revolving, for about thirty 
minutes, the stock is removed, horsed up for twenty or thirty minutes, 
and the usual operations of staining, fat- liquoring and coloring may 
now be proceeded with in the ordinary manner. This treatment with 
permanganate of potash kills all traces of sulphurous acid in the skins, 
therefore it is not necessary to use alkalies, such as soda or borax, in 
the water in which they are washed from the reducing bath, as is gener- 
ally the practice. Or the permanganate may be applied to the stock 
in this manner : 

2d. After tanning, wash the skins, stain and fat-liquor them in the 
usual manner. They are then smoothed out with a slicker, and, after 
being folded, grain side out, each skin is dipped into a bath consisting 
of a solution of permanganate of potash, which is prepared in the fol- 
lowing manner : Five pounds of permanganate of potash are dissolved 
in thirty gallons of water to form a stock solution. Of this stock solu- 
tion one gallon is mixed with twelve gallons of water, which forms a 
bath capable of treating one hundred pounds of skins. In preparing 



504 APPENDIX. 

the bath in the first instance the percentage of permanganate solution 
may be increased to about two gallons ; but after treating the first batch 
of skins an addition of one gallon of the solution for each subsequent 
batch of one hundred pounds of skins will be sufficient to maintain the 
bath at the proper strength. After allowing the stock to be drained 
well the final coloring may then be proceeded with in the ordinary 
manner, except that one-half the usual quantity of logwood liquor will 
be sufficient. If the permanganate does not appear to strike evenly, 
and the stock shows any indications of spots, streaks or teeth, a little 
salts of tartar should be added to the bath ; or the stock solution may 
be prepared by dissolving five pounds of permanganate and two and 
one-half pounds of salts of tartar in thirty gallons of water. The work- 
men who dip the stock in the permanganate liquor should wear rubber 
gloves. 

The advantages resulting from this process are that a fine base or 
foundation for the color is formed ; the grain of the leather appears 
smoothed down ; all roughness, stringiness, beardiness are lessened, and 
presenting when glazed a smooth, fine, unctuous feel, a brilliant, lus- 
trous color and a high, clear finish. 

The methods employed in coloring the skins, after they have been 
treated with permanganate of potash, vary, depending upon the color 
or the shade that is desired. Skins treated with permanganate of pot- 
ash may be colored any shade of color. For tan shades the preliminary 
treatment may be with a solution of tanning material, such as sumac or 
gambier, and after this has been applied the permanganate of potash is 
put on, and this is followed hy an application of aniline dye of the 
desired shade. By subjecting skins to this treatment more permanent 
and uniform results are obtained. The process is applicable to stock 
tanned by the use of alum, bark or other materials, as well as to chrome- 
tanned skins. It has been used in practice, however, mostly upon 
goatskins intended for glazed kid. 

This process is patented by W. N. Norris, Princeton, N. J. 

LEATHER FOR PNEUMATIC TIRES AND OTHER SPECIAL PURPOSES. 

The object of this invention is to produce a leather which will be 
exceedingly tough and flexible yet inexpensive to produce, while at the 
same time it will be adapted to many purposes to which ordinary leather 
is inapplicable, and more particularly as an armor for pneumatic tires. 
For this purpose any suitable hide, such as ox hide or cow hide, is 
employed, and submitted to the following treatment : 

The raw hide as taken from the animal is soaked in clean water for 
a period of three to seven days, then fleshed, that is to say, loose 
pieces of flesh and grease are removed from the flesh side, after which 
it is placed in a pit with a solution of lime and water for a similar 
period, and by this process it is reduced to a gelatinous condition. It 
is then taken out and unhaired and next laid in a pit containing a mix- 



• APPENDIX. 505 

ture of alum and egg or other suitable albumen for four to ten days, 
after which it is in condition to be chemically treated. 

The alum and egg albumen mixture is composed of 56 pounds of 
alum, 4 pounds of egg albumen and 150 gallons of water, and the hide 
is soaked in this for about four days or longer, as circumstances may 
require. It is then successively placed in each of a series of chemical 
soaks or baths of graduated strengths, commencing with the weakest, 
each soak consisting of a combintion of sulphuric acid, red arsenic 
and sumac liquor in suitable proportions. This soaking is continued 
for about two days, during which period the hide is changed every 
twelve hours from one soak to another of the next higher gradation as 
regards strength, after which it is placed in a soak or bath consisting 
of a solution of rubber, petroleum benzine and naphtha, for about two 
days. It is then taken out, strained on stretchers or frames and air- 
dried, after which the leather is ready for use. Tbe best way to deal 
with this part of the process is to soak the hide in the benzine and 
naphtha and afterward to work or knead into it a solution of rubber. 

Thus treated it retains all its natural fibrous and other qualities, has 
nearly the same flexibility as rubber, is entirely free from grease , so that 
it will readily receive rubber solution, and is practically impenetrable 
with ordinary usage. 

In treating, say, twenty-five hides the following proportions may be 
employed for the principal baths or soaks : 

TAe Sumac Soaks. — No. i. 150 gallons of water, ^ pint of sulphuric 
acid (specific gravity 1.840), 3 pounds of red arsenic, i cwt. of sumac. 

No. 2. 150 gallons of water, 3 quarts of sulphuric acid, 4 pounds of 
red arsenic, \y^ cwt. of sumac. 

No. 3. 150 gallons of water, 6 quarts of sulphuric acid, 5 pounds of 
red arsenic, i^ cwt. of sumac. 

The Benzine Soak. — 12 gallons of benzine; 6 gallons of coal tar 
naptha ; 56 pounds of rubber solution of commerce, consisting of Para 
rubber i pound, coal tar naphtha ^ gallon, benzol i pint and carbon 
bisulphide ^ pint. Or the rubber may be omitted and the hides 
treated separately. 

PNEUMATIC TIRE LEATHER. 

A process by which chrome leather can be made to retain its flexi- 
bility, acquire resilience and become almost punctureless and self-heal- 
ing if punctured, has been patented in the United States by Philip 
Magnus of Collingwood, Victoria. The leather is first cleaned from 
all impurities or foreign matter, and dried. It is then submerged in 
a cold bath consisting of benzine, about eighty-five parts; benzol, 
about ten parts ; naphtha, about three parts ; kerosene, about five parts. 
After submersion in such bath for about thirty minutes, the leather is 
removed, and it is then placed, flesh side up, upon a bench and the 
solution worked in with a wire or bristle brush. After the first solution 
has, by the aid of a brush, been caused to penetrate the leather, it is 



506 APPENDIX. 

again submerged for a few minutes and brushed. It is again dipped 
and brushed and then hung up to allow the mixture that has not been 
absorbed to drip off or evaporate. 

The leather is then ready for further treatment by immersion in 
baths made of the following mixture : Para rubber, about twenty parts ; 
benzine, about eighty parts ; benzol, about ten parts ; naphtha, about 
two parts ; isinglass, about one part. The shredded rubber is first dis- 
solved in the benzine, then the benzol and naphtha are added, and 
finally the isinglass, previously dissolved in enough hot water to form a 
thick, gelatinous solution. The solution of rubber, benzine, benzol 
and naphtha is divided into three equal parts or baths. One of the 
portions is the "thick" bath. To the second portion add, say, ten 
parts more of benzine and a fractional (one- eighth) part of naphtha, 
and call this the " thin ' ' bath ; and to the third bath add ten parts of 
benzine and one-eighth part of naphtha more than added to the second 
bath and call this the " thinner " bath. 

The leather is then treated successively in these baths, being im- 
mersed in the thick solution or bath about four hours, in the thin bath 
about seven days, and in the thinner bath about four days. After each 
bath the liquid is worked into the leather with a brush, as above de- 
scribed, and hung up to allow any free hquid to escape by dripping 
and evaporation. The isinglass mentioned is the purest natural gelatine 
known, and imparts to the latter a soft, tenacious quality. It is dis- 
solved in sufficient hot water to render it gelatinous, as before men- 
tioned, and then is incorporated with the rubber, benzine and naphtha 
by mechanical mixture so as to be applied to the leather at the same 
time therewith. 

The leather is finally treated with a third mixture consisting of ben- 
zine, about seventy-five parts ; benzol, about twenty parts; naphtha, 
about one part ; kerosene , about five parts, rubbed in with the aid of a 
stiff brush, after which treatment it is hung up and thoroughly dried. 

TANNING WITH CATECHU, SEPTFOIL ROOT, ALEPPO GALLS, HOPS AND 
GUM SENEGAL. 

The object of this invention is to provide a tanning liquor which 
shall in a ready, rapid and economical manner be adapted, to tan 
hides and skins, and the ingredients of which are such as can be readily 
procured in almost any locality, and requiring no special machinery or 
apparatus for the preparation of the mixture. In carrying the process 
into effect, soft water ten gallons; Bengal catechu, one-quarter of a 
pound; septfoil root {^Pofenfilia tormenti/Ia), ihret pounds; aleppo 
galls, one-half pound; ground hops, one-quarter of a pound; and 
powdered gum Senegal, one-fourth ounce, are used. 

All of the ingredients with the exception of the gum Senegal, are 
placed in the water, and the latter is brought to and retained at the 
boiling-point for one hour or more. It is then allowed to cool, when 
the gum Senegal is added and thoroughly stirred into the liquor. 



APPENDIX. 507 

In using the bath, the hides or skins are allowed to remain therein 
from two to seventeen days , according to their character ; and when 
the necessary period has elapsed, the stock will be found to be thor- 
oughly tanned. The usual washing and treatment with oil may be em- 
ployed if deemed necessary or desirable. This process is patented by 
George A. Sweetman. 

TANNING WITH HORSE-CHESTNUT AND POKE- ROOT EXTRACTS AND 

GAM BIER. 

By means of this tanning compound, it is claimed that hides and 
skins can be readily, cheaply and quickly tanned into leather. 
The compound consists of : 

Extract of buckeye or horse-chestnut i pound. 

Extract of poke-root 2 pounds. 

Gambier 12 pounds. 

Water 20 gallons. 

Make the extract of buckeye or horse-chestnut by boiling twelve 
pounds of horse-chestnut bark in six gallons of water for about two 
hours. Make the extract of poke-root by boiling eight pounds of 
poke-root in three gallons of water for about one and a half hours. 
Hides after they have been unhaired and otherwise prepared are placed 
in this tanning compound and kept therein for a suitable length of time.. 
Where the hide is light, it is usually necessary to keep it in the com- 
pound for twenty- four to forty-eight hours. Ordinarily upper leather 
requires to remain in it for from five to six days. Heavy harness and 
sole leather requires usually from ten to fifteen days. The tanner by 
observing the color of the hide, can determine when it has been suifi- 
ciently tanned. This compound is patented by George W. Langley. 

LEATHER FOR ORGAN PIPES. 

Leather made by the following process is distinguished by its fine- 
ness, suppleness, lightness and durability, such properties being required 
for many industrial purposes, particularly for lining organ pipes and in 
the manufacture of bellows and the like, and generally for purposes 
where it is desired to have an air-tight, light and flexible material. 
The leather hitherto used for such purposes was usually not absolutely 
air-tight or sufficiently flexible, while rubber sheets or fabrics impreg- 
nated with a solution of rubber, although air-tight, are very difficult to 
fit snugly by reason of lack of softness. They have besides the serious 
drawback of being liable to deteriorate and lose their flexibility, thereby 
becoming brittle under the influence of cold. This is of great import- 
ance in the case of organs in churches which are not heated during the 
winter. This leather obviates all these drawbacks and is therefore suit- 
able for various purposes. It is manufactured from the outside wall of 
the intestinal tube, more particularly from the caecum or blind gut of 



508 APPENDIX. 

the animal. This outermost skin of the blind gut has hitherto been 
deprived of its fat and dried, and used as the so-called " goldbeater's 
skin." It has been proposed to subject it to a tanning process, but 
the leather obtained in that way alone is not sufficiently air-tight and 
durable. 

According to this process the blind gut skin, well cleaned and washed 
with potash or the like, is first tanned by means of mineral substances, 
such as chrome alum, etc., or with vegetable substances. In practice 
it has been found that for two hundred skins of the maximum size four 
hundred grams zinc sulphate with ten liters of water is suitable as a tan- 
ning solution, or about the same quantity of chrome alum may be used. 
The skin is then placed in a filling bath of yolks of eggs, flour or the 
like, permitted to remain until thoroughly impregnated, whereby it is 
made thicker and stronger. This bath is preferably made by adding to 
about one liter of yolk of eggs a small quantity of flour. By this filling 
process the skins absorb the oil of the eggs. After rinsing they are 
stretched and dried. This drying is effected by placing two skins one 
on top of another and allowing them to dry together in intimate con- 
tact. During this drying process they firmly adhere to each other 
without any gluing or cementing material being used. The best plan 
is to place the grain, or outermost, sides of the two skins against each 
other. More than two skins may be superposed, in which case the 
similar sides are placed in apposition. 

When a multiple skin treated in this manner has become sufficiently 
dry it is degreased or deprived of its fat by treating it with benzine , 
it being at the same time rubbed and kneaded in it, whereby it is 
rendered soft and supple. This treatment is necessary to remove the oil 
incorporated in the skin by the treatment with the eggs and to render 
the leather soft, pliable and capable of being cemented to wood and 
other materials. This property renders it suitable for gluing or piecing 
together, so that large pieces of any size may be made from small pieces 
of it, and it can be cemented to other materials, such as wood, etc., 
which is of importance for organ pipes and other purposes. 

The process, as stated, includes the process of tanning of the stock, 
but if untanned skins are subjected to the other steps of the treatment 
— filling, superposing and washing with benzine — a product is obtained 
having many advantageous characteristics over the untanned skins pre- 
viously known. 

Bruno Trenckmann, of Schoneberg, near Berlin, Germany, assignor 
to Zephyrlederfabrik Gesellschaft Mit Beschrankter Haftung Vormals 
Trenckmann & Co., has a United States patent on the above-described 
process. 

COAL TAR IN SOLE AND HEAVY UPPER LEATHER. 

This process consists in treating leather with coal tar whereby it is, 
without impairment of strength and flexibility, rendered absolutely 
waterproof, and its durability enhanced. The operator prepares a bath 



APPENDIX, 509 

of coal tar having a temperature of approximately no degrees Fahr., 
and immerses therein leather that has been tanned by the usual method 
and that may be in a split or unsplit condition, and either before or 
after the rolling and glossing processes have been employed to fit the 
material as to weight or density, according to its intended use. The 
leather is kept immersed in the bath at the above-mentioned tempera- 
ture for a period of time ranging from twenty-four hours to six days, 
according to its density or thickness or the use for which it is intended, 
during which time it becomes thoroughly saturated or impregnated with 
the coal-tar. It is then removed from the bath and is passed between 
rollers exerting pressure to express the superfluous tar and to force the 
retained tar into all the fibers. The rolled leather is then placed upon 
drying- racks and, when nearly dry, it is again passed between pressure- 
rollers and if desired is glossed in the usual manner. It is advisable in 
case of heavy tar to add a small quantity of gasolene or the like to re- 
duce the weight and assist absorption, which is accomplished by capil- 
lary action. The absorbed coal-tar is thoroughly incorporated with 
the fibers ; and in drying the leather becomes a compact gutta-percha- 
like material, having a high wear- resisting quality compared with leather 
that has not been so treated. Moreover, it is claimed that leather 
treated by this process retains its strength and flexibility, is antiseptic 
and vermin-proof and will not become impaired by long exposure to 
water. Patented by Loftus Harley Francis, of Princeton, Cal. 

tanning with terra japonica, alum, gambier and extract of 
crane's bill. 

This tanning compound is composed of terra japonica, fluid extract 
of crane's bill, alum and a coloring material, the latter for hides being 
preferably gum gambler. 

The proportions of the ingredients will vary according to the nature 
and age of the hide or skin and the length of time the same is to re- 
main in the bath. The following proportions are given for approxi- 
mately five gallons of water in the preparation of a bath for one or two 
year old calf hides : 

Terra japonica 2 pounds. 

Gum gambler 2 pounds. 

Alum 1)4 pounds. 

Fluid extract crane's bill iK^ ounces. 

The ingredients are mixed and the hide, after being limed, depilated 
and bated, is immersed in the solution until thoroughly tanned. 

For skins and small hides, the proportions will be less, and for cow, 
ox and horse hides they will have to be increased. For example, the 
skin of a yearling is readily tanned in a comparatively weak tanning- 
solution, whereas the hide of a bull requires a longer time and a tan- 
ning solution of greater strength. 

Horace M. Murray, of Seligman, Mo., assignor to J. W. Dodgen, of 
Oak Grove, Ark., is the patentee of the compound described above. 



510 APPENDIX. 

lANNING WHH GAMBIER, BLACKBERRY ROOTS AND WITCH HAZEL. 

The composition of the tanning compound of this process consists of 
the following ingredients in about the proportions given, viz.,. extract of 
gambler, five pounds; decoction of blackberry roots, one-eighth of an 
ounce ; decoction of witch hazel, one-eighth ounce ; water, six gallons. 
It is prepared by adding to the gambler only sufficient water to dissolve 
it. Then to each six gallons of soft water add five pounds of the 
gambler solution, one-eighth of an ounce of the decoction of witch 
hazel and one-eighth of an ounce of the decoction of blackberry roots. 
These substances are thoroughly mixed and a sufficient quantity of the 
tanning composition is placed in a vat to act on the hides placed 
therein, their size, age, thickness and number determining the quantity 
of the composition to be used. Hides are thoroughly tanned in from 
four hours to eight days, the length of time depending upon their age 
and thickness. 

The decoction of witch hazel is prepared by taking, for example, 
one pound of the bark as it comes from the tree, placing ^ it in two 
gallons of water and boiling it for two hours in a closed vessel, and 
then straining the liquor. The resultant decoction will measure some- 
where between a pint and a quart, the variation being due to the char- 
acter of the boiling, that is to say, whether it be hard or gentle. 

The decoction of blackberry roots is produced by taking, for ex- 
ample, one pound of the roots as they come from the ground, placing 
it in two gallons of water, boiling for two hours in a closed vessel and 
then straining. The resultant decoction will measure between a pint 
and a quart, the variation being due to the character of the boiling, 
whether it be hard or gentle. The decoctions thus obtained are added 
to a quantity of water containing a solution of from one and a half to 
five pounds of gambler, the amount of gambler depending upon the 
quantity of water required to cover the hide, color and set the grain, 
care being taken to have the two decoctions thoroughly mixed with the 
gambier solution. The hide will remain submerged in the ooze for 
from four hours to eight days, the length of time depending on its age 
and thickness. 

After it has been submerged the required length of time in the ooze 
formed by the ingredients, it is removed and thoroughly washed with 
water and then treated with fish oil. These operations remove any tannic 
acid present. Patented by Sherman Brown. 

UTILIZING SPENT TANNING LIQUORS lO INCREASE THE WEIGHT OF LEATHER. 

The object of this invention is to produce a liquid dressing particu- 
larly applicable to the manufacture of sole leather, which is to have the 
greatest degree of solidity possible with the necessary degree of flexi- 
bility. All processes for making such leather have heretofore involved 
two stages : First, the hides are subjected to the action of a liquor 
comprising active tannic material until combined with all of the tannin 



APPENDIX. 5 I [ 

with which they are capable of combining, and second, the leather thus 
tanned is then subjected to a loading process, which usually consists in 
filling it with concentrated bark extract. 

This improved process is advantageous in that sapped or exhausted 
organic tanning liquors, which are usually wasted, are thereby utilized 
to form an inert leather dressing which is an efficient substitute for the 
more costly active tannic material heretofore employed for loading pur- 
poses. In order to make such leather dressing, it is necessary to elim- 
inate such impurities as have accrued in the liquors from the addition 
of chemicals thereto or the formation of chemical compounds therein. 
If the waste liquor is from an acid- tanning yard and contains sulphuric 
or other non-volatile mineral acids, it may be neutralized by the addi- 
tion of alkali, or the acids may be precipitated as salts by the addition 
of suitable reagents. On the other hand, if the waste liquor is from 
a non-acid yard and contains lime or lime compounds, such impurities 
in accordance with this process may be precipitated by the addition of 
chemicals forming insoluble compounds with lime. For instance, am- 
monium oxalate, sodium phosphate, sodium fluoride or carbon dioxide 
gas may be employed to effect such precipitation. The spent liquor 
may then be heated until the volatile impurities, for instance, acetic, 
propionic or butyric acids, are eliminated, and the resultant liquor is 
concentrated conveniently by continued heating in vacuo until it attains 
a specific gravity of from 1.05 to 1.3 and becomes a leather dressing 
adapted for the purposes specified. The otherwise waste liquors thus 
purified and concentrated may be utilized as a dressing to increase the 
solidity of leather, as follows : Hides which have been subjected to the 
action of a tanning solution until they have combined with approxi- 
mately all the tannin with which they will combine, are then impreg- 
nated with the leather dressing in any convenient manner. It may, 
for instance, be placed in a rotary drum and the concentrate, preferably 
heated , introduced into the latter , conveniently through a hollow axle or 
trunnion thereof, and the revolution of the drum continued until it is 
absorbed by the leather and fills the pores of it, so that when dried the 
residue of the dressing in the leather not only renders the latter more 
solid than if it had not been impregnated, but also adds materially to 
its final weight. It may be observed that if the dressing were of less 
specific gravity there would not be sufficient solid residue when the 
leather dried to effect the result desired. Moreover, if the dressing 
were of a greater specific gravity it would not be absorbed by the 
leather. Patented by George W. Childs. 

A NEW PROCESS OF TANNING WITH METALLIC SALTS. 

"A patent has recently been issued in Germany for a process of tan- 
ning with metallic salts, in which the hides or skins are impregnated 
with a solution of basic sesquioxide and afterwards treated with an 
alkaline solution of a sesquioxide or of a metallic oxide. 



512 APPENDIX. 

The methods hitherto in use in both chrome and white tanning had 
for their object the combination of a metalhc oxide or basic oxide with 
the animal tissue. In chrome tanning, if the effect depends upon the 
reduction of chromic acid in the presence of the animal tissue or the 
action of strongly neutralized sesquioxide of chrome depends upon the 
latter, then the tanning principle must be looked for in the chrome 
combination, and in white tanning in a combination of aluminum. 

In dyeing, the fact has been noted that when metallic sesquioxides 
are employed as mordants their effect is greatly increased in combina- 
tion with metallic oxides, whose action alone as mordants is ni7. 
Experiments as to the effect of these combined mordants in mineral 
tanning have shown the surprising result of a particularly firm and solid 
leather, giving besides the important advantage of making it possible to 
obtain remarkably fine colors, especially with solid mordant colors. 
For instance, the skins are first tanned with a basic oxide of chrome 
salt and afterwards treated with a solution of oxide of zinc and sodium. 
The basic chrome salt loses through the sodium its last trace of acid, 
and thus deprived of its solvent the chrome must be precipitated, and 
in intimate combination with it the zinc oxide which had been held in 
solution by the soda. By this means not only a more complete and 
better utilization of the chrome oxide is secured, but also an intimate 
combination and strengthening with the oxide of zinc, which takes a 
stronger hold on the fibers of the skin than the simple oxide. Of 
course the oxide of zinc and sodium can be replaced with other analo- 
gous compounds, such as aluminate of sodium, oxide of copper and 
ammonium, etc. 

The practical sequence of the process is as follows : The skins, pre- 
pared as usual, are placed in a bath of chloride of chrome of about i 
degree Be. strength. This bath is increased at regular intervals by one- 
half degree until it reaches 3 degrees Be. in strength. As soon as a 
cutting from the skins shows that they are fully tanned, they are re- 
moved and placed in a bath of oxide of zinc and sodium of from 2 to 4 
degrees B^. strength. They are afterwards thoroughly washed and 
finished in the usual manner. 

TANNING WITH POKE-ROOT, ALUM AND GAM BIER. 

The hides or skins are unhaired with lime , then washed and bated in 
the usual manner. They are next placed in a bath in the proportion of 
four gallons of water, which has been boiled, to a quarter of an ounce 
of fluid extract of phytolacca or poke-root, and after being agitated 
therein, four pounds of gambier are added to the bath and stirred until 
thoroughly dissolved, after which one pound of pulverized alum is added 
and dissolved. The hides or skins after being dipped several times in 
this liquor are allowed to remain in it until tanned, which requires from 
two to twelve days. When tanned they are removed, rinsed in clear 
water and treated with fish oil and dried. The leather can then be 



APPENDIX. 513 

finished and curried in any manner. Patented by Ira D. Burrows, of 
Poolville, Texas. 

PROCESS OF MAKING LEA'lHER FOR FURNITURE, UPHOLSTERY, CARRIAGES 
AND AUTOMOBILES. 

The objects aimed at by the inventor of this process are the produc- 
tion of a finished leather which will possess great durability, freedom 
from cracking and other objections and which will be cheap to manu- 
facture. These objects are attained by coating the leather with a num- 
ber of coatings, the inner coating or coatings being elastic, at least one 
of them containing a relatively large proportion of non-drying oil or oil 
not readily oxidizable and soluble nitro -cellulose, which is preferably in 
solution with amyl acetate and diluted with alcohol. The innermost 
coating is preferably formed by making a portion of the diluent of alco- 
hol, which by its quick evaporation will cause the pyroxylin to set be- 
fore the amyl acetate has an opportunity to penetrate the leather and 
deposit the pyroxylin on its surface in the form of a thin film. The 
inner coating or coatings will never entirely dry, owing to the large 
proportion of non-oxidizing oil employed, and will remain always in a 
tacky or sticky condition. The outer coating or coatings preferably 
contain a much larger proportion of pyroxylin and a smaller proportion 
of oil. The outer coating or coatings will preferably be largely of 
pyroxylin and will set with a dry surface, which will cover and protect 
the inner coating or coatings. This outer coating will preferably be 
very much thinner than the inner coating or coatings. 

As a basis, real leather as distinguished from artificial leather is em- 
ployed. Small skins or large hides may be used ; and the process may 
be applied with success to the less expensive splits as well as to the 
more expensive grained and buffed leathers. For the oil a non-drying 
oil is employed, that is, an oil that is not readily oxidizable. As ex- 
amples of such oils castor oil and peanut oil may be mentioned, both 
of which are abundant and serve the purpose admirably. Other oils 
which answer the requirements, however, may also be used. For the 
nitro-cellulose a nitrated cellulose readily soluble in amyl acetate and 
me thy lie alcohol such as pyroxylin or gun cotton is preferable. This 
nitro-cellulose may be in solution in a solvent proper, such as amyl 
acetate, or in a solvent mixed with a diluent, as fusel-oil. Together 
with the oil and the nitro-cellulose, gums or other substances may be 
used to give body to the coating and pigments or other materials to 
give color, but they are not necessary. 

One way of carrying out the process is as follows : The uncoated 
leather is first coated with a liquid containing the oil and nitro-cellulose 
in solution and preferably diluted with alcohol, with or without other 
materials such as gums or pigments. This inner coating is allowed to 
set, preferably at the ordinary temperature. The first or inner coating 
when sufficiently set will not be entirely hard and inflexible, owing to 

33 



514 APPENDIX. 

the presence of the large proportion of non-drying oil, but on the con- 
trary, will be tacky and more or less soft, flexible and elastic. A 
second coating is then superposed upon it. This outer coating may be 
like the inner one except that it has a smaller proportion of the oil. 
In this outer coating a larger proportion of pigment may be used, if 
desired, than in the inner coating. The outer coating in some in- 
stances may contain no oil whatever, the effect of the oil in it being 
secured by the combination of its nitro-cellulose with a portion of the 
oil of the inner coating. The idea of the outer coating is to serve as a 
finish to the inner coating, the latter being always soft and therefore 
impractical for a leather finish. If desired, a third or other coatings 
may be added, these coatings being similar to the second ones. Tbe 
process may be modified by making the second coating or additional- 
coatings, if such be used, similar to the first, with the outside or finish 
coating similar to the second one above described. 

As an example for carrying out the process the following proportions 
may be employed : For a steer-hide split or cow-hide split of average 
thickness, for the first coating, a solution of about thirteen pounds of 
pyroxylin dissolved in about thirteen gallons of a mixture of three parts 
of wood alcohol and one part of amyl acetate, which is at the rate of 
one pound of pyroxylin to each gallon of solution. To this are added 
about seventy-five pounds of castor oil, together with about two pounds 
of any commercial pigment, depending upon the color desired, ground 
in about twenty pounds of oil. There is therefore used about ninety- 
five pounds of oil, so that the oil will be at the rate of about seven and 
one- third pounds of it to each pound of nitro-cellulose. As an example 
of coloring pigment for some shades of brown, burnt umber may be 
used. The inner coating will set and will not permeate the leather to 
any appreciable extent. One reason why this is possible is the use of 
wood alcohol in large quantity, so that the composition will not entirely, 
or much of it, permeate the leather and change the character of the 
coating from one of great elasticity and ability to stretch to a film 
formed largely of pyroxylin and incapable of being stretched. Instead 
of the wood alcohol some other material may be used to prevent per- 
meation of the leather by the solution. For the second coating the 
same amount of pyroxylin and amyl acetate may be employed, but with 
a smaller proportion of alcohol, depending upon the weather during 
the operation, on account of its tendency to absorb moisture and then 
precipitate pyroxylin. To this are added sixteen pounds of castor oil, 
being much less than for the first coating. 

The amount of alcohol used in the second coating depends upon the 
weather during the operation. The second coating is in a position to 
absorb moisture while the first one is covered. Therefore if moisture 
be absorbed a spotted appearance in the coating results. It is possible 
to make it without alcohol ; but the solution will penetrate too far un- 
less other means be provided to prevent this for the reason that the 
amyl-acetate dries too slowly. The amount of oil in the inner coating 



APPENDIX, 5 I 5 

Is regulated by the thickness, texture, stiffness and in some cases by 
the method of tannage of the leather, and also by tha length of fiber 
on the surface, if the leather is a split. A thick and close- textured 
leather will require a larger proportion of oil than a thinner one or one 
in which the texture is more open. In some instances chrome-tanned 
leather will require a smaller proportion of oil than a bark- tanned pro- 
duct. The hand-buffed and the machine-buffed leathers will require a 
smaller proportion of oil than the split referred to, assuming the pro- 
portions to be the same in both cases. The proportion of oil to nitro- 
cellulose should be varied when used in connection with other leathers, 
such as goatskin, calfskin, etc., according to the above rule. The pro- 
portion may vary from seven and one- half pounds of oil to each pound 
of nitro-cellulose or even slightly more in some leathers down to very 
much less in others. It may not well be reduced, however, below three 
and one- fourth pounds to each pound of nitro-cellulose. This propor- 
tion of oil, it is to be understood, is to be measured by the amount of 
nitro-cellulose employed and does not in any way depend upon the 
amount of solution containing the nitro-cellulose. 

The proportion of oil in the outer coating will vary according to the 
results desired. A smaller proportion of oil will give a leather having 
a drier feel. Similarly a larger proportion of oil will give a product 
with an increased sleekness of feel. The amount of pigment added 
should be sufficient to secure the desired depth of color. The propor- 
tions used will vary according to the results desired. The addition of 
gums or other oils may cause a slight reduction of non-drying oil. For 
instance, in connection with the example before given, if a gum or 
similar substance, such as camphor, is used, and which is soluble in the 
solvent employed to dissolve the pyroxylin without acting on it, it 
would be in the proportion of about three-quarters of a pound to each 
pound of castor oil used. 

After the leather is coated, it may be further finished by graining, 
embossing or pebbling in the usual way. 

The leather produced by this process possesses remarkable durability 
and freedom from splitting or cracking. It is particularly applicable 
for furniture , upholstery or for use upon carriages and automobiles , and 
in the construction of folding hoods or tops of carriages. In these 
situations the leather is folded and subjected to severe treatment, strain 
and exposure to the weather which ordinarily would cause cracking 
or flaking of the coating. 

Leather made according to this process does not have the objections 
usually incident to goods made by old and well-known processes. It 
may be more cheaply manufactured and made with greater expedition 
than ordinary coated leathers. The successive coatings do not have 
to be baked and may be quickly dried without artificial heat. Further- 
more, cheapness is secured by using cheaper grades of leather to form 
the basis of the coated product. Leather made according to this pro- 
cess from the split, deep split, or deep buff is every way as good as, if 



5l6 APPENDIX. 

not better than, goods made from the hand-buff or machine-buff ac- 
cording to the old and well-known processes. Furthermore, it has the 
greater advantage of not drying out or getting stiff by age and will not 
be affected by cold weather. This process is patented by Leon FevaL 

ALUM TAWING. 

This method has for its object the facilitating of the process of tan- 
ning by reducing the time consumed, and to leave a salt in the skins 
that will form a basic mordant for the coloring matter, and at the same 
time, when the skins are finished, leave them be soft, flexible and 
waterproof. 

The skins are treated in the usual manner to remove the hair or 
wool, limed, bated and washed, and thus made soft and flexible. A 
solution is then made of from twelve to fifteen gallons of water, to 
which have been added nine pounds of alum, two pounds of salt, and 
thirty pounds of wheat- flour, the whole being thoroughly agitated while 
subjected to a heat of about 82.4° to 86° Fahr. for fifteen minutes. 
To the solution are added about twelve pounds of the yolks of eggs, 
and the solution is agitated for another five minutes. 

The mixture is then placed in a suitable drum capable of holding 
about one hundred pounds of stock, and the whole allowed to revolve 
for from thirty to sixty minutes, or until the skins have absorbed the 
contents of the drum. This completes the first step in the process, and 
is what is commonly known as " tawing." The skins are next removed 
from the drum and hung up and dried out. Next a solution of sal soda 
is made, composed of one pound of soda to a gallon of water. In a sal 
soda solution made up in these proportions, and in quantity sufficient 
to treat the lot of stock, the skins are placed until they are thoroughly 
soft and flexible and have assumed a neutral condition. They are 
then washed in lukewarm water to remove all foreign matter and traces 
of soda, and are then placed in a bath made by adding sulphuric acid 
to water until the mixture assumes a density of one to two degrees 
Baum^. To this solution is added as much of hydrated sesquioxide of 
chromium or chromic hydrate as will dissolve, and no harm is done 
when there is a surplus of chromic hydrate remaining in the vessel. 
Should the solution not be neutral it may be made so by the addition 
of sal soda until this result has been accomplished. The skins having 
been neutralized as above mentioned, and afterwards washed, are 
placed in the chromium solution and the whole agitated for from five 
to fifteen hours. They are then removed, washed, colored, and finished 
in the usual way. 

The mordant in the skins when combined with the subsequent color- 
ing matter permeates the fiber and greatly adds to the lasting quality of 
the color and durability of the leather. This process has been patented 
by Messrs. A. Warter and H. C. Koegel, of Newark, N. J., who claim 
as new a tawed or alum-tanned skin subsequently impregnated with the 
sesquioxide of chromium. 



APPENDIX. 517 

TANNING WITH AZEDARACH, GAMBIER, TANNIC ACID, ALUM AND OIL OF CEDAR. 

A tanning process in which these ingredients are employed has been 
patented. The tanning compound is composed as follows : Tannic 
acid, one pound; azedarach, or the bark of the tree known as the 
" Pride of China," one pound ; gum gambier, one pound ; alum, one- 
half pound; oil of cedar, two ounces. 

The hides are first soaked in water until soft and then placed in a 
bath consisting of one gallon containing approximately three pounds of 
lime and two and one-half ounces of bicarbonate of sodium. They are 
allowed to remain in this bath from three to fifteen hours, or until the 
hair becomes loose, after which they are submitted to the usual process 
and prepared for tanning. 

The tanning compound is then placed in a suitable vat and the skins 
immersed therein and allowed to soak until thoroughly tanned. The 
quantities of tanning materials are for two gallons of water. Patented 
by James B. Tompkins, of Vanderwoort, Ark. 

TANNING WITH SUMAC, ALUM AND SALT. 

This is a process for the tanning of upper and garment leather, which 
when exposed to wet weather and dried again will not lose its pliability 
or strength. 

The hides are deprived of hair in the usual manner and are then 
bated and bran drenched. Tanning is begun by immersing them for 
four days in a solution of sumac, about two pounds of sumac dissolved 
in three gallons of water being used for each hide. In preparing the 
solution the sumac is first boiled in a convenient quantity of water, 
and then more water is added to approximate the proportions above 
indicated. 

While under treatment in the solution the hides are turned over twice 
in every twenty-four hours. When removed from the sumac solution 
they are immersed for three days in a solution of alum and salt, about 
six pounds of alum and four pounds of salt being used for each hide, 
the alum and salt being dissolved in sufficient water to cover the hides 
when placed in the solution. They are turned over twice in every 
twenty- four hours. 

They are then taken out of the bath, and while still damp are treated 
by wiping over the surface with neatsfoot oil, by means of a cloth, a 
half of a pint to each hide. They are then thoroughly dried and after- 
ward dampened, staked, shaved, set out and given a medium stuffing 
with dubbing, consisting of tallow and fish oil mixed together to such a 
consistency that the mixture can be conveniently worked upon the hides. 
This dubbing being applied while the hides are damp, the result is that 
during the process of drying the oil penetrates into them and has the 
effect of rendering them extremely pliable and durable. They are then 
hung up and dried, and afterward sleeked off by scraping the dubbing 
from the surface with a sleeker, cleaned and grained and are then ready 
to be used. 



5l8 APPENDIX. 

Leather which has been tanned with alum and salt becomes very hard 
after getting wet, but by the employment of sumac in the preliminary 
stages, tanning in the manner indicated, and by applying neatsfoot oil 
to the hides Vhile they are still damp, the oil penetrates during the 
process of drying and the leather remains strong and pliable. This 
process is patented by William MacMillan, of Palmerston North, New 
Zealand. 

NITRATE OF SODA IN SOLE LEATHER TANNING. 

It is well known that tannic acid is a strong astringent and that when 
hides are immersed in a solution containing too great a proportion of 
it the pores at their surfaces will become closed to such an extent as to 
retard or even prevent the tanning liquor from gaining access to the 
interior parts. In the processes now in common use it is necessary to 
employ at first a weak tanning liquor and to permit the hides to remain 
in the vats for a long time, for example, for a period ranging from two 
to four months, depending upon their thickness and other conditions. 
By immersing them in a liquor containing nitrate of soda in addition to 
vegetable tanning agents the difficulty mentioned is overcome, the effect 
of the nitrate of soda being to open the pores and thereby permit the 
tanning-liquor to readily penetrate into the innermost parts. 

In tanning heavy hides, they are first immersed in a rocker in a so- 
lution containing two and one-half pounds of tannic acid or its equiva- 
lent of vegetable tanning agent and three and one-half pounds of nitrate 
of soda for every one hundred pounds of water. The hides are allowed 
to remain in the rocker two days. Then they are removed and placed 
in the handlers, in a solution which contains five pounds of tannic acid 
and seven pounds of nitrate of soda for one hundred pounds of water. 
They are kept in the handlers for four days and are then placed in a 
lay-away vat, where the strength of the tanning solution is increased to 
seven and one-half pounds of tannic acid per one hundred pounds of 
water, and the nitrate of soda is increased to ten pounds per one hun- 
dred pounds of water. They are permitted to remain in this solution 
for about twelve days, when they are transferred to another vat, where 
the solution contains ten and one- half pounds of tannic acid and fifteen 
pounds of nitrate of soda per one hundred pounds of water. They 
should remain in this last vat for about twenty- four days, when they 
will be completely tanned. As the strength or specific gravity of the 
solution decreases by reason of the solid matter entering the hide, the 
deficiency should be supplied by adding tannic acid and nitrate of soda 
in approximately equal proportions. A greater number of lay-aways 
or soakings may be employed, if desired, with the time of immersion 
in each lay-away commensurately decreased. This process has been 
patented by John Campbell, of Chicago. 



APPENDIX. 519 

NEW METHOD FOR BELT AND SHOE LEATHER LACES. 

The description that follows relates to a method of making leather, 
especially adapted for belt and shoe leather laces, by the chrome 
process. This is a patented process, the patentee being one James 
C. McConnell. 

Tbe hides are treated in the preparatory process of liming, unhairing 
and bating the same as any hides for a chrome process. The first step 
in the making of the leather consists of drumming the hides in a drum, 
or paddling them in a vat in a solution of alum and salt. This is made 
up of two pounds of alum and four pounds of salt for each one hundred 
pounds of hides. In this liquor the hides are treated until they have 
absorbed the same. They carry sufficient water as they come from the 
washing process to absorb the alum and salt. After this treatment they 
are allowed to press, drain and partly dry, when they are split and 
shaved. The tanning is then completed by drumming, or paddling 
them in a vat, in a chrome or mineral tannage of any kind, after which 
they are washed and again partly dried to get them in proper condition 
for fat-liquoring or stuffing. 

The stuffing mixture is prepared as follows : Four ounces of common 
potash, or other alkali, are boiled in one-half gallon of water until dis- 
solved. Then two pounds of any good degras and four pounds of tallow 
are added, and the whole brought to a quick boil. The compound re- 
quires to be thoroughly cooked. Then one- quarter gallon of neatsfoot 
oil is added, and the compound stirred until the temperature reaches a 
little below boiling-point. Then the compound while hot is applied to 
the leather, the quantity named being used for one hundred pounds of 
it, at a temperature of 150 degrees Fahr. 

After the leather is stuffed it is set out and oiled off on the grain side 
with a light coat of neatsfoot oil, then stretched in frames until thor- 
oughly dry. After this it is moistened and staked and softened, and 
the staking, working and drying are continued until it is soft and dry. 
Then it is coated on both sides with a light coat of paste made with 
tallow, starch-flour, soap and water boiled together. It is then dried 
out again and finished in the usual way. As is the case when alum and 
salt are used before the chrome process is applied, the object of using 
them is to pickle the hides so that they will not draw or pucker when 
put into the tan hquor, and to preserve them so that they can be kept 
some time before they are chrome-tanned. By first tawing them in 
alum and salt, and splitting them before they are chrome- tanned, a 
saving of chrome materials is effected. An interesting feature of this 
process is in the fact that the salt and alum treatment permits the 
leather to be stuffed at a high temperature, thus insuring a more thor- 
ough penetration of the stuffing greases than is usually the case, and 
the leather is made very elastic and durable , and peculiarly suitable for 
lace leather. 

Lace leather, made by a chrome process in this way, does not harden, 



520 APPENDIX, 

but remains strong, soft and pliable until it is worn out. The stuffing 
is done in a worm drum , and all the ingredients must be completely in- 
corporated with each other and thoroughly taken up by the leather be- 
fore it is dried out. 

TOUGH AND WATERPROOF LEATHER. 

Hides worked through the process here described form a material 
which is soft, flexible, durable and waterproof, and which can be applied 
to various uses, such as the covers of pneumatic tires of the wheels of 
bicycles or other vehicles, driving belts, soles for boots and shoes, and, 
in short, for almost any purposes where the material is subjected to a 
great deal of wear and tear and is required to have great toughness and 
durability. 

The hides are first soaked for a considerable time in water to which 
a small quantity of sulphate of iron has been added ; they are then for 
a considerable time soaked in a bath of glycerine and a solution of ace- 
tate of ammonia, when they are partially dried and treated with a com- 
pound of castor oil and alcohol, well rubbed in ; they are then piled up 
until they are thoroughly impregnated with this compound. The final 
step consists of working into the surface any suitable waterproofing 
compound. 

Hides of any suitable kind are taken and the hair and flesh are 
removed from them ; they are then for a considerable time soaked in 
cold water. The duration of soaking depends upon the nature of the 
hide, whether it is thick or thin, and also somewhat upon the prelimi- 
nary treatment to which it has been subjected. Ordinarily this soaking 
in water occupies several days. After the water has thoroughly pene- 
trated and softened the hide a solution of sulphate of iron is stirred into 
the water and the soaking continued. This preliminary soaking, first 
with water and then with water containing sulphate of iron, occupies 
several days. Seven days' soaking is usually sufficient, four in water, and 
three in water and sulphate of iron. If the hides have already been 
bated, three days' soaking in water containing sulphate of iron is usually 
sufficient. The quantity of sulphate of iron used varies with the kind 
of hides treated, with their thickness and with the length of time to 
which they are submitted to the process. Ordinarily one ounce of sul- 
phate of iron to two gallons of water is sufficient. This is called bath 
No. I. 

The hides are removed from this solution, allowed to drain, and are 
then placed in a bath composed of about equal parts of glycerine and a 
dilute solution consisting of one part, by weight, of acetate of alumina 
and from four to eight parts of water. This is called bath No. 2. The 
strength of No, 2 is determined by the character and thickness of the 
hides and the degree of softness desired in the articles to be made from 
them when prepared. They are allowed to remain in bath No. 2 from 
two to six days ; they are then removed and allowed to partially dry. 



APPENDIX. 521 

The surfaces of the hides are then treated with castor oil mixed with 
enough commercial alcohol to make a complete combination between 
the two. One part of castor oil to five parts of alcohol is usually suffi- 
cient. This compound is thoroughly rubbed into the hides, which are 
then placed in a pile, one above the other, and allowed to remain until 
the compound of oil and alcohol has thoroughly impregnated them. 

The following example is given for the treatment of an ox hide one- 
tenth of an inch thick : The unbated hide is first soaked in water for 
seven days, the water containing fifty grains of sulphate of iron to the 
gallon, the sulphate of iron being, however, not added until about the 
end of the fourth day. 

The hide is then soaked in bath No. 2 for five days, this bath con- 
sisting of two gallons of glycerine, one gallon of a saturated solution of 
acetate of alumina and two gallons of water. 

The hide is then allowed to dry, and its surface is treated with a 
compound of castor oil and alcohol, consisting of three-fourths of a 
gallon of the oil and four gallons of alcohol. This solution is then 
rubbed in by hand upon the hide, which is rolled upon itself and placed 
in a pile of similarly treated goods. The castor oil prevents the gly- 
cerine from absorbing moisture and facilitates the absorption of other 
oils, while the alcohol facilitates the action of the oil or waterproofing 
compound in penetrating the hides which have been treated with gly- 
cerine and acetate of alumina. 

If the finished hides are to be used in such a way that they will be 
exposed to great moisture, any of the well-known waterproofing com- 
positions may be used ; for example, tanner's oil, which is a mixture of 
neatsfoot oil and tallow, or tar oil, which is the ordinary product of 
resinous or tar distillation, or other vegetable or mineral oil, or wax, or 
shellac or similar substances, either alone or mixed with a solution of 
India rubber, is worked, either hot or cold, into the surface of the 
hides. The goods thus treate'd form a soft, durable and waterproof 
material. The process above described has been patented by Horatio 
W. Southworth, of London, Eng. 

f TREATMENT FOR PICKLED SKINS. 

This process is useful, it is claimed, in neutralizing acid-pickled 
skins and preparing them for tanning. The skins are immersed in a 
light alkali solution, a nitrate of an alkali or an alkali earth. The 
method is as follows: Prepare, for example, a solution consisting of 
ten ounces of nitrate of soda in seventy gallons of water, so as to be 
slightly alkaline or neutral. This solution will neutralize and oxidize 
one dozen of Australian pickled sheepskins. By pickled skins are 
meant such as have been subjected to the action of a pickling solution 
but have not yet received any tannage. 

For this purpose various pickling processes are employed, such as 
sulphuric, lactic or acetic acids in conjunction with common salt, but 



522 APPENDIX. 

the ordinary pickle consists of sulphuric acid and common salt. 'Jhis 
method is effective on all pickled skins no matter how they are pickled. 

Naturally the quantity of the solution must be regulated according to 
the number of skins to be tanned. For skins tanned with a mineral 
tannage , such as sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, in case of the two-bath 
chrome process and which contain sulphuric, hyposulphurous and thio- 
sulphuric acids, a solution of five ounces of nitrate of soda in seventy 
gallons of water may be used. This solution is also slightly alkaline or 
neutral and will neutralize or oxidize one dozen of tanned skins. 

On all these acids the action of the nitrate of sodium is similar at an 
ordinary temperature ; it also exercises an oxidizing effect on all the 
free sulphur present. The quantity of solution to be employed is regu- 
lated by the number of tanned skins to be treated. 

By the above described method a larger surface of leather is gained 
than if the solution is not employed, a superior product is assured, the 
skins will also have a smooth surface and are much more porous and 
soft. 

Pickled skins treated with this solution may be tanned more rapidly 
on account of their greater facility for absorbing the tanning liquor. 

Naturally an excess of nitrate of soda is not harmful because it re- 
mains in the solution ; and smaller proportions of it than those speci- 
fied may be employed, but it is preferable to use the solution of the 
strength above mentioned. In all cases it must be neutral or slightly 
alkaline. Patented by Otto P. Amend. 

LACTIC ACID IN PLUMPING AND TANNING LEATHER. 

In the ordinary tanning processes as now practised, a number of vats 
are usually provided and are filled with tanning liquor of different de- 
grees of strength, the hides being placed in the vat containing the 
weakest liquor and thence removed to the next succeednig vat in which 
the liquor is stronger. Some tanners prefer to let them remain in a 
single vat and to change the liquor around them. When this is done, 
the liquor first brought into contact with them is comparatively weak, 
and stronger liquors are used as the tanning process progresses. In 
the ordinary methods of tanning the natural tan bark, for instance , the 
bark of the chestnut oak or the bark of quebracho wood , is sometimes 
leached or steeped in water for the purpose of making the tanning so- 
lution. At other times the tanning liquor is made of a solution of some 
one of the commercial tanning extracts dissolved in water. Sometimes 
the tanning liquor also consists of a double solution containing both the 
leached extract of natural bark and commercial tanning extract pre- 
pared artificially. This invention relates more particularly to tanning 
processes in which either a commercial tanning extract is exclusively 
employed or in which it is used in conjunction with the extract made 
by leaching the natural bark. 

A twenty-five per cent, solution of commercial lactic acid is taken 



APPENDIX. 523 

and apportioned to the quantity of hides to be tanned at the ratio of 
one-half to three-quarters of a pound of the acid for every one hundred 
pounds of hides. This proportion is preserved no matter what may be 
the purpose for which the stock is tanned or what may be the stage of 
the tanning process. After putting this commercial lactic acid into the 
solution, the tanning process goes on as stated, with this difference, to 
wit, the lactic acid plumps the hides, that is, causes them to distend 
and swell and thereby tan more quickly. 

As the commercial tanning extracts are of vegetable origin and as 
the natural tanning extract obtained from the natural bark produce a 
tanning solution also of the same origin, this process is more peculiarly 
applicable to so-called "vegetable " tanning. 

The addition of lactid acid to the tanning liquor of the kind de- 
scribed, whether it be formed from the natural bark or from some com- 
mercial tanning extract, causes the hides to retain their substance and 
to combine with a larger proportion of the tannin, thereby making a 
superior quality of leather of proportionately heavy weight. This gives 
the process great commercial value, for the reason that it converts a 
comparatively cheap substance into a high-priced commodity. In 
other words, the greater the amount of tannin which can be made to 
combine with the albumen of the hide the better will be the leather and 
the greater will be the weight thereof. As this kind of leather is sold 
by weight, the advantage can readily be seen. 

The fluid known among tanners as ' ' sour liquor ' ' has been used 
with more or less success in the plumping of hides and possibly has 
been applied successfully to them in various stages of the tanning pro- 
cess. This sour liquor possibly contains traces of lactic acid or some 
acid having more or less similarity thereto. It is, however, formed 
during a fermenting process from the natural bark and is therefore 
peculiar to the use of it. When commercial tanning extracts are em- 
ployed, there is little or no fermentation, and therefore the organic 
acids formed are not sufficient in quantity to properly plump the hides. 
It therefore becomes necessary to add some plumping agent ; and for 
this purpose commercial lactic acid has been found to be the most 
suitable. 

When the hides are tanned by the use of a double solution contain- 
ing both the extract of the natural bark and a commercial tanning ex- 
tract, the sour liquor produced from the natural bark is of such small 
quantity as to be inadequate for the purpose of properly plumping the 
hides. Lactic acid can be used to advantage in this tanning process 
as well as in that in which a commercial tanning extract alone is em- 
ployed. 

By the method that has been described a tanning liquor of the very 
highest order can he successfully prepared without the direct use of any 
natural product whatever — that is to say, all of the substances used in 
the entire tanning and plumping processes can be bought in the market 
as articles of commerce. There are some tanners, however, who, be- 



524 APPENDIX. 

cause of the abundance and cheapness of the natural bark in a particu- 
lar locality, or who, for other reasons, desire to use the natural bark, 
to some extent at least, find, as before stated, that there is not enough 
sour liquor formed for properly plumping the hides. In the latter case 
commercial lactic acid and a commercial tanning extract can be used 
along with such proportion of extract made from the natural bark as 
may be deemed proper. It makes no difference what may be the 
relative proportions of the natural bark and the commercial tanning ex- 
tract, the lactic acid working equally well in all cases. It has been 
found , too , that lactic acid can be used to equal advantage whether the 
process be one of original tanning or of retanning. A mixture of the 
extract of natural bark and of a commercial vegetable- tanning extract 
is usually employed in retanning. This process was patented in 1902 
by Sigmond Saxe. 

Lactic acid has become an important factor in the manufacture of 
leather. It is largely used in tanning processes to make the leather 
plump and well filled and therefore heavier ; and it is also employed for 
the purpose of removing lime from hides and skins before they are tan- 
ned. Hides immersed in a cold solution of lactic acid in water plump 
considerably and accept the tanning liquors more rapidly and thereby 
acquire a better color and more weight. When lactic acid is used in 
the yard, the leather is made heavier, with a finer and more mellow 
grain and an improved color. Used in retanning splits, it makes them 
heavier than they would otherwise be. Bating hides for sole leather 
with lactic acid rids them of lime without the loss of any of the sub- 
stance which is so important that it should be retained. 

THE MANUFACTURE OF INTESTINAL LEATHER. 

This process has for its object the production of a leather from the 
intestinal membrane or coat, that on being bleached has the appearance 
of ordinary glove -leather, or kid. It is, however, essentially distingu- 
ished from such leather by the absence of pores, thus rendering it im- 
pervious to moisture and gases and by its extreme thinness, coupled 
with great toughness or strength of fiber. It is distinguished from 
gold-beater's skin by that it may be sewed, the seam being firm and 
the leather closing tightly around the thread, and also by its extreme 
pliability and softness. 

The properties above stated render this leather peculiarly suitable 
for the manufacture of gloves for those whose occupations render it 
necessary to effectively protect the hands against infectious matter and 
poisonous solutions or baths, the extreme pliability and softness permit- 
ting a free movement of the fingers and its thinness giving the sense of 
touch full play. Unlike the goldbeater's skin, it may be boiled without 
injury, so that a surgeon's glove made from it may be dipped into a 
formaldehyde solution and then boiled for the purpose of cleaning, dis- 
infecting and sterilizing it. This is a matter of great importance. 



APPENDIX. 525 

This leather is applicable to a great variety of purposes in the useful 
and fine arts. Thus, for example, it is exceedingly well adapted for 
ink ribbons. As a covering for balloons for signaling, military and other 
purposes it has been found superior to the ordinary silk covering by 
virtue of its greater lightness, less bulk, pliability, softness and impervi- 
ousness. It can be dyed various colors. When dyed it may be used 
in place of ornamental papers. As a starting material, serves the outer 
peritoneal coating of the caecum of blind gut of the ox, the same sub- 
stance which is used as goldbeater's skin in the making of goldfoil. In 
most of the slaughtering establishments in the United States and in 
Germany this membrane is now removed from the intestine which it 
envelops and supplied in this condition to the manufacturers of gold- 
beater's skins or to goldbeaters. 

In order "to convert this delicate membrane into leather first remove 
all fatty substances and adhering impurities therefrom by the following 
treatment: The membranes are first rinsed in warm water, preferably 
in three graded baths, each having a higher temperature than the pre- 
ceding one. Best results are obtained by making the temperature of 
the first bath 25° Centigrade, that of the second 30° C, and that of 
the third 35° C. (77, 86 and 95 degrees Fahr.). The membranes are 
next immersed and left for about five minutes in a bath composed, for 
one hundred membranes, of ten grams permanganate of potash dissolved 
in three liters of water and having a temperature of about 80 degrees 
Fahr. They are then placed into a bath of twenty grams of sulphurous 
acid dissolved in three liters of water and having a temperature of about 
80 degrees Fahr. In this bath the membranes or skins must be left 
until they have swelled up and attained a pure white color, whereupon 
they are taken out and again submitted to three rinsings in warm water 
of 77, 86 and 95 degrees Fahr. successively, as above. They are now 
ready to be immersed in a soap solution or bath which is preferably 
prepared by boiling about one-half kilogram (i.i lbs.) of good, pure, 
white toilet soap, such as white castile soap, in one and one -half liters of 
water for one hundred membranes, the temperature of the soap bath 
having been first reduced to 95 degrees Fahr. by the addition of one-half 
liter of cold water. In this soap bath the membranes remain for several 
hours, until the soap has been completely absorbed, whereupon they are 
put successively into two baths of warm water having a temperature of 
about 80 degrees Fahr. for the purpose of completely washing or rins- 
ing them. 

They are now ready for the tanning or tawing process, which is as 
follows : A solution is prepared by dissolving, for each one hundred 
membranes, one hundred grams chromic acid and fifty grams of alum 
in one liter of water of 95 degrees Fahr. The membranes are placed 
in a bath of warm water, preferably one liter of water of 80 degrees 
Fahr. The chromic acid solution is gradually added to the membranes 
in the warm water bath while agitating or stirring them. Preferably 
the following course is pursued : First, about one-eighth of the chromic 



526 APPENDIX. 

acid solution is added to the membranes, then after about ten minutes 
a further one-eighth of the same , and after a further ten minutes one- 
fourth of the original amount of the chromic solution, and finally after 
twenty minutes the rest of the chromic solution is poured into the bath 
containing the membranes. In this final bath the membranes are 
allowed to remain for one hour while being constantly agitated or 
stirred. They are then removed from the tawing bath and rinsed 
twice with warm water of 80 degrees Fahr. This completes the tanning 
or tawing process. 

The inventor finds it advantageous to immerse the tanned membranes 
in a bath composed of five hundred grams of yolks of eggs and one 
hundred grams of glycerine added to two liters of water and thoroughly 
mixed with it. In this bath the membranes remain about ten hours. 
They are then removed and drained by hanging over or from lines or 
ropes, whereupon they are placed on suitable frames or supports and 
allowed to dry. After they have thus lain for about eight days they 
are stored in moderately damp chambers or inclosures and are then 
drawn over crescent-shaped blunt knives over their entire surface until 
smooth and pliable, or any other smoothing manipulation may be 
employed for this purpose. 

The leather is now finished and may be used in this condition, but 
for many purposes it may be found desirable to further finish or embel- 
lish it. It may be dyed beautiful colors, and for this purpose it may 
be immersed in a bath containing the desired dye, such as aniline dye, 
in quantities governed by the color to be imparted. A bath contain- 
ing from three to five per cent, dye will usually answer. To this bath 
a mordant consisting of four cubic centimeters of acetic acid of fifty 
per cent, strength is added. In a bath so prepared the leather remains 
several hours. Further, it is claimed that by this process the leather, 
whether dyed or undyed, may be still further finished by passing it 
through calendering-roUs. In some cases colored talcum powder may 
be sprinkled or dusted over it, and be then calendered. It is also desir- 
able in some cases to coat the undyed leather with a thin film of a 
composition prepared by mixing eight parts collodion, one part castor 
oil and one part caoutchouc solution. Leather so coated is adaptable 
for gloves, accordion-bellows, balls and the like. 

When it is desired to obtain a thicker and stronger leather which, 
however, is not so well adapted to be dyed, a tanning bath consisting 
of one hundred grams of sulphate of zinc , forty grams of alum and fifty 
grams of wheat flour properly mixed with one liter of water may be used 
to tan one hundred membranes, the other conditions and steps of the 
process remaining the same as above. This tanning bath is used instead 
of the chromic tanning bath above described. This treatment yields 
pure white , lusterless leather of greater body than that produced by the 
chromic acid method. This process is patented by Bruno Trenckmann, 
of Berlin, Germany. 



APPENDIX. 527 

MANUFACTURE OF PARCHMENT-LIKE SKIN. 

In the process as usually carried out, the peritoneal membrane of the 
gut, after having been cleaned of fat and soaked in a bath of soap, is 
immersed in a bath of sulphate of zinc, chloride of barium or any simi- 
lar mineral salts which are able to produce pigments, insoluble in water, 
by double transposition with any inorganic salts, acids or bases. 

This process consists in alternately treating the skins in such baths 
at certain definite temperatures. For example, the gut membranes are 
first rinsed from five to ten minutes in a solution of sulphate of zinc or 
other mineral salts, of about 15 degrees Baum^ and at a temperature 
of 4 degrees C. (39.2° Fahr.). They are then put in a solution prefer- 
ably of carbonate of sodium of about 15 degrees Baum^ and at the same 
temperature, and treated therein for about the same period of time, 
raising the temperature, however, to 15 degrees C. (59° Fahr.). They 
are then returned into another solution of sulphate of zinc at a tem- 
perature of o degrees C. (32° Fahr.), and then into a solution of 
carbonate of soda at the same temperature. They are then finally re- 
turned to the solution of sulphate of zinc at a temperature of 6 degrees 
C. (42.8° F.), and then into a solution of carbonate of soda at the 
same temperature. This treatment is repeated until the skins have 
absorbed a sufficient amount of the pigment, which is attained usually 
after two or three treatments. 

By this process a parchment-like, clear, white or well-colored pro- 
duct is obtained, which may come in contact with water and when 
again dry will appear as before. Further, this product, unlike leather, 
is capable of being extended when soaked, and will again shrink while 
drying, thus making a tight cap, perfectly air tight, so desirable for 
closing bottles of all kinds. This process is the invention of Bruno 
Trenchmann, of Berlin, Germany, who has taken out a patent on it. 

TANNING WITH PERSIMMON BARK, BROOMWEED, GAMBIER AND ALUM. 

In this process of tanning persimmon bark is used in a tanning com- 
pound with other well-known ingredients that have high tanning prop- 
erties. The tanning liquor consists of broom weed, gum gambier, alum, 
common salt and persimmon bark in about the following proportions : 
Broom weed ooze , ten gallons ; gum gambier, four pounds ; pulverized 
alum, one pound ; common salt, two pounds ; persimmon bark, three 
pounds. 

To make ten gallons of broomweed ooze, take fifteen gallons of 
water, and to this add thirty pounds of broomweed. This mixture is 
boiled from one to two hours until one- third of the water has been 
evaporated, leaving ten gallons of ooze ready for Use. The gum gam- 
bier is dissolved in as small an amount of water as possible and when 
dissolved is poured into the broomweed liquor. The alum and salt are 
both poured into the mixture while still warm, and the latter is then 
stirred until the alum and salt are dissolved. The freshly-peeled per- 



528 APPENDIX. 

Simmon bark is added at the same time the hides are put into the 
liquor and will have imparted its strength to the mixture within twelve 
hours. 

The hides or skins are soaked , limed , unhaired and bated or drenched 
in any suitable manner and are then placed in the above-described 
liquor and remain in it until they are thoroughly tanned , which requires, 
from about six hours for thin hides to ten days for heavy ones , in warm 
weather, but in cool weather it will take about a quarter longer time for 
proper tanning. 

To give the desired color to the hides, any well-known coloring agent 
may be employed. When properly tanned they may be treated in any 
manner that will give the leather the finish that is wanted. This process 
is patented by James L. Martin, of Terrell, Texas. 

LEATHER FOR HORSE COLLARS, HARNESS PADS, ETC. 

This process of tanning consists of the use of an antiseptic tanning 
composition for leather intended to be used as a lining for horse collars, 
all kinds of harness pads, and similar appliances. To make such hides 
more appropriate for this particular purpose, the hair is not removed 
from them , because resting next to the skin of the animal they form a 
soft bolster, are cool because this hairy layer permits free evaporation 
and escape of the perspiration, keep as a consequence the harness dry, 
and protect it against mold and rot, and finally, by their softness pre- 
vent the growth of sores on the animal. 

To tan and prepare hides for such linings, so as to keep them from 
rotting from constant contact with the moist perspiration ; to make them 
soft and tough ; to preserve the roots of the hair in a manner to pre- 
vent it from falling out ; to render them harmless and salubrious by 
proper medical and antiseptic treatment, and to keep moths and other 
insects out, has been fraught with many difficulties. 

In the first place all fatty substances which might tend to cause fer- 
mentation and rot must be eradicated ; secondly, to make and keep the 
leather pliable and to prevent the perspiration of the animal from enter- 
ing and saturating it, setting up fermentation and causing rot, its pores 
must be filled with an unctuous and preserving substance ; thirdly, the 
pores should be contracted to toughen the leather, and also to guard 
against all possibilities of any of the hair falling out, and lastly, the 
odor caused and remaining from the tanning process should be elimin- 
ated. The means selected to comply with all these conditions must be 
of such a character as to be not only harmless to the skin of the animal, 
but in addition should have such medical and antiseptic qualities as to 
prevent sores, to heal them and prevent their spread in cases where 
they exist, and finally they should harden the skin in places where the 
pads are in constant contact and bear on it. 

To fulfill the first condition, corrosive sublimate is the most suitable 
means. It acts as an antiseptic and germicide by killing or neutral- 



APPENDIX. 529 

izing all such matter which might cause decomposition. For the second 
requirement phenol (carbolic acid) or the preparations derived there- 
from are used. It or they fill the pores of the hide, and by unctuous 
properties keep the same soft and pliable. The third condition is best 
complied with by the application of salicylic acid, which contracts the 
pores of the hide and toughens it. The fourth condition is satisfied by 
menthol, which by its penetrating odor eliminates the scent of the tan- 
ning process adhering to the leather. 

In cases where pads lined with leather so prepared come in contact 
with sores on the animal, the corrosive sublimate, in combination with 
the phenol contained in the pores of the lining, will stop the spread of 
the sores, and by virtue of the antiseptical and germicidal properties of 
these drugs will heal them and prevent their recurrence. In addition 
to the named effects on the skin of the animal, these drugs in combi- 
nation with the salicylic acid will also harden it. Hides so saturated 
are fully germ and moth-proof, because the drugs used in their treat- 
ment are inimical to insect life. 

The chemicals named may be applied, by adding them to the ordi- 
nary tanning liquor prepared from sumac or bark in which the hides 
are immersed, and in which case the procedure is the same as the usual 
tanning process, or they may be applied as a dressing by means of a 
brush after the ordinary tanning process has been gone through with. 
The temperature of the composition is preferably from 60° to 70° Fahr. 
The menthol in a solution of five parts in ninety -five parts of alcohol is 
best applied separately and lastly in the form of a spray. As regards 
the proportion of said chemicals, one part of corrosive sublimate, eight 
parts of phenol, and one part of salicylic acid, all dissolved in sixty 
parts of water, produce the best results. The quantity of water may be 
varied, however, in order to produce a more or less concentrated solu- 
tion, by the strength of which the duration of the tanning process may 
be lengthened or shortened. Equivalents may of course be substituted 
where they produce the same results. For instance, boracic acid may 
be used in place of the corrosive sublimate, and also instead of the 
salicylic acid. For the phenol any of its species may be used. 

Hides or leather so prepared preserve remarkably well, and are 
rendered exceedingly tough and tenacious without losing their pliability 
and softness. 

The preparation , if mixed with the ordinary tanning liquor will hasten 
the whole tanning process and keep the liquor from spoiling or getting 
sour. Patented by Julius Engelke, Cincinnati, O. 

PROCESS FOR LACE, BELT AND GLOVE LEATHER. 

The object of this process is to accelerate the operation and to reduce 

the cost of manufacture, and at the same time produce a leather the 

quality of which is superior to any tanned leather on the market. The 

usual results of any attempts to hasten the process of tanning are that 

34 



530 APPENUTX. 

the quality of the leather is injured more or less. The hides to be 
treated by this process are handled as follows : They are soaked in 
clean, fresh water over night. Next they are fleshed and washed in 
the wash-wheel in order to remove from them the salt and dirt, and are 
then again put into clean water and left therein over night. They are 
then tied together head to butt, though when intended for belting, the 
heads and bellies may be cut off and prepared for sole leather, and they 
are then put into a lime vat, and by means of chains and reels handled 
from one lime vat to another for about eight hours. They are then 
transferred to warm-water vats and treated for six or eight hours with 
water at about 80 degrees Fahr., and are passed from one vat to another. 
. They are then allowed to remain in warm water of about 80 degrees 
Fahr. for a time, say over night, after which the hair can be readily 
removed. After the unhairing, which may be done in the usual man- 
ner, they are washed in clean water and freed from lime by the working 
incident to unhairing or short-hairing. Being thus freed of lime by 
working on the grain side and short- hairing, they are worked on the 
flesh side, fleshed or shaved. When cleaned and shaved they are put 
into clean, cold water for a time, say over night, to swell them, although 
this is not absolutely necessary, and then into a coloring wheel, together 
with a liquor of about twenty per cent, cutch or catechu. Enough of 
this liquor is required to cover them and to produce an even color. To 
this liquor are next added about thirty pounds of common salt for every 
thirty hides under treatment, and the wheel kept in operation for about 
four hours to insure the hides being evenly colored. To the liquor are 
then mixed three pounds of alum, one pound of salt, one twenty-fourth 
pound of borax and one-half pound of flour (preferably rye flour) to 
each hide under treatment, and enough of this liquor is used to keep 
the hides covered, and they are left in this liquor from two to four 
days, being handled with the wheel for two to three hours each day. 
The strength of the liquor is then renewed, two or three times, accord- 
ing to the weight of the stock, and the hides handled therein until they 
are sufficiently tanned. They are then hung up in a drying loft and 
when thoroughly dry are dampened in a vat of catechu, at about 60 
degrees Fahr. , containing from twenty to thirty per cent, of catechu. 
They may now be put into a stuffing wheel for about one hour, then 
taken out and oiled with neatsfoot oil on the grain side, and next put 
back into the stuffing wheel for about an hour. 

They are now in suitable condition for glove leather and similar uses, 
or they may be stuffed with a stuffing made from tallow and wood tar, 
composed of one hundred pounds of tallow and twenty pounds of wood 
tar boiled and skimmed until they unite, and kept working in the wheel 
until dry. They may then be worked in any suitable manner until they 
are well stretched out. The leather treated in this way may be finished 
for either belting or lacing. It may be cut up, dampened and shaved, 
stufifed again with tallow and tar, and also neatsfoot oil, when desired, 
in a stuffing- wheel while still damp for about an hour, and then dried 



APPENDIX. 531 

for lace leather ; or it may be dampened, if too dry, in liquor, same as 
before, stuffed again and set out on a table and cut up and stretched 
for belting; or it may be treated to make harness leather, being black- 
ened before oiling and otherwise treated the same as for lace leather. 
Other kinds of leather may be finished in the usual way. Instead of 
stuffing the hides, they may, after being dampened with catechu to fill 
them with tannin, be treated with a tanning liquor to set the catechu, 
as in the ordinary process of tanning to make sole and similar leathers. 
When finished in this way, it is preferable to use a somewhat stronger 
liquor for filling, say one containing sixty per cent, of catechu. Of 
course modifications may be made in the use of this process according 
to the kind of hides being treated and the kind of leather desired. 

PROCESS FOR LACE LEATHER. 

This process of tanning has for its object the treating of hides and 
skins in such manner as will prevent them from becoming hard, and 
thus to produce leather having the qualities of softness, pliability and 
strength to an unusual degree. In applying the process, the hides or 
skins, after having been cleaned of all impurities, such as blood, salt 
and lime, are spread out smooth, and a coating of powdered crystal 
Glauber's salt is applied to them. For a ten-pound skin as brought from 
a slaughter-house in its green and wet condition, one and one-half 
pounds of the salt will be found sufficient ; while at least six pounds 
should be used for a hide weighing from forty to sixty pounds. About 
one- half of the salt is spread over the hide in the first instance, after 
which it is permitted to lie for about twelve hours, in order to have the 
salt absorb all the moisture, and when this time has expired the bal- 
ance of the Glauber's salt is applied. The goods are then again exposed 
for from twelve to twenty- four hours. The next step is to smooth the 
hide out upon a table and to treat it to a composition composed of 
one- fourth aqua ammonia to three- fourths of oil or grease, preferably 
unadulterated cod-fish oil. This mixture is coated upon both sides of 
the hide by means of a brush. In the case of oils and grease of poor 
quality , the quantity of aqua ammonia should be less than above , while in 
the case of richer oil and grease , it should be increased. The hide is now 
exposed for drying purposes. After drying, it is placed in clean water 
to dissolve any sulphate of ammonia or any of the parts of the Glauber's 
salt that may remain. It is then ready for the work of setting or 
stuffing, and after drying out again there is no staking necessary, as 
the leather will remain soft. The insoluble fatty compound will remain 
in the hide and adhere to the fibers severally, and not in a mass, leav- 
ing them independent of each other, thus securing a perfect tanning, 
and putting the hide or skin in condition to reject water to a great ex- 
tent. 

Instead of pulverizing the crystals of Glauber's salt and applying the 
same in dry powdered condition, the skins or hides may be placed into 



532 APPENDIX. 

a solution of common salt and sulphuric acid, commonly called the 
" pickle." After they have passed through this pickling process, the 
mixture of aqua ammonia and cod-fish oil is applied in the manner that 
has been described. 

SOFT, WATERPROOF LEATHER. 

The object of this process is to provide a method of tanning leather 
whereby the hides are rendered soft and pliable. Their pores are 
opened to permit of the thorough and effective penetration of the tan- 
ning liquor, and by being then closed, the leather or hides are pre- 
vented from cracking, all the glue and gelatine therein being retained; 
The leather is consequently water- proof, and the liquor is prevented 
from souring, these objects being among the chief advantages of this 
process. 

In applying this process, the first step is to place the hides in a vat 
containing lye and salt, in the proportion of ten pounds of the latter to 
one pint of the former for each hide of light weight. After soaking 
the hides a specified time, as well understood by those familiar with 
the work, there is from time to time added a small quantity of lye, 
until the hair of the hides begins to loosen. Should at this stage of the 
procedure a deodorizer be required, about one hundred drops of car- 
bolic acid may be added. The second step is the liming of the hides, 
for which purpose, instead of lime as commonly used, lye or ashes is 
employed, one quart of either of which with water being added daily 
until the hair has become loosened. With a small amount of lye left 
in the hides, the latter will not crack, as has been experienced with the 
use of lime , in passing them through the tanning process proper ; also 
in the bating of them which is the next step, the lye that remains in 
them will prevent the liquor from becoming sour. Bating is carried 
out by adding to the liquor bran to the extent of a peck at the begin- 
ning. The final or last step consists of subjecting the hides to the tan- 
ning process, the liquor of which is made of the following ingredients, 
in the quantities named for a single hide : Ten pounds of salt, one 
pound of saccharine matter (sugar) , to which are added one pound of 
French ochre for coloring purposes and one ounce of borax to impart 
softness to the hide, and water sufficient to cover the latter. The said 
ingredients together with water, are of course added in the same pro- 
portion for each additional hide placed in the vat. 

The liquor thus produced may also be used with all astringents, and 
with it, and with previous treatment of the hides, the latter are pos- 
sessed of the following qualities, in addition to those already men- 
tioned : The resultant leather can be exposed to the action of water for 
days, and it will be perfectly impervious thereto, and the tanning is 
effected in a minimum space of time, while the best color is obtained 
for the leather. Patented by G. W. Hersey, Empire, Wis. 



APPENDIX. 533 

NICOTIN IN LEATHER TANNING. 

This invention has for one of its objects the provision of certain im- 
provements in processes of tanning which will materially reduce the 
time now required for the conversion of the hide or skin into leather 
without impairing the quality of the latter ; and it has the further ob- 
ject to provide, in the art of converting hides or skins into leather, a 
step or process that will act to loosen the hair and to shorten the time 
of tanning. 

Hides subjected to the action of solutions containing nicotin be- 
come more permeable by, or susceptible to, the action of ordinary tan- 
ning agents; so that a hide that has been " nicotinized," as it may be 
expressed for the sake of convenience , may be tanned in a shorter time 
than otherwise. 

It has been found that among the materials which are suitable for 
these purposes are commercial tobacco extracts, well known in the 
trade as insecticides or sheep dips, but as many of such extracts have 
a stated low percentage of nicotin, a comparatively large quantity 
would be required to produce the desired result, it is better to use a 
solution, which has been improved by purifying or removing in any 
suitable manner non-nicotinous extractive substances even up to the 
point of producing a pure nicotin. Such very pure nicotine solutions, 
however, are at present unduly expensive, and a solution up to about 
ninety per cent, purity, that is, with about ten parts of other extractive 
matters, to ninety parts nicotin, has proved to be entirely satisfactory. 
In the practice of this process it has been found that from half a pound 
to a pound and a half of nicotin suffices to treat one hundred pounds 
of hides or skins, enough water being used with it to cover them. To 
produce this bath, any of the commercial nicotins or tobacco extracts 
may be employed in proportions sufficient to yield the stated amount 
of real nicotin, as determined by analysis. The above-mentioned 
quantities may be found to be excessive and may be varied without de- 
parting from the spirit of the invention. It has been found that thor- 
oughly satisfactory results may be obtained from the use of a nicotin 
solution having the following composition as shown by analysis : 

Nicotin alkaloid " C-io H-14 N-2 " 90.00 

Extractive matter, gum, etc. . . 3.00 

Fat i.co 

Water 6.00 



1 00.00 
The percentage of water may of course be increased without affect- 
ing the purity of the nicotin, for example the same solution may be 
diluted with water so as to analyze : 

Nicotin alkaloid "C- 10 H-14 N-2" 45-0° / 

Extractive matter, gum, etc. 1.50 

Fat 50 

Water 53-oo 



100.00 



534 APPENDIX. 

The solution above referred to will put the raw hides or skins in such 
condition that the tanning process may be completely effected in from 
two weeks to three months. It has been found that when the raw hides 
or skins are subject to the nicotinizing treatment prior to the final step 
of tanning, it results in putting them in such condition that the tan 
bark or other tanning liquor employed in the ordinary tanning pro- 
cesses is enabled to penetrate them in from one -fourth to one-half of 
the time now required for such penetration. 

It may be stated that immersion for about six hours is sufficient if 
the hair has been previously removed, but when it is desired to cause 
the solution containing nicotin , to also effect the depilation of the hide , 
the immersion should be prolonged to periods varying from twelve 
hours to three or four days , according to the nature of the hides under 
treatment. 

TREATING LEATHER WITH THE WASTE SULPHITE LIQUORS OF WOOD-PULP 

MILLS. 

This invention relates to a method of treating partially- tanned 
leather with the waste liquor of pulp mills. 

After the hides have been subjected to any active tanning material 
and have been struck through, or colored from surface to surface by 
the tanning solution, the now partially- tanned leather is removed to the 
revolving drum or wheel and is subjected , while undergoing agitation ,. 
to the action of an agent consisting of an extract derived from the waste 
sulphite liquors coming from sulphite wood-pulp factories, and having 
a specific gravity of from i.io to 1.35. This range in the specific 
gravity has been found to meet all requirements that arise including 
different kinds of partially- tanned leather. It has been ascertained 
that if the specific gravity be below the minimum stated, there will not 
be sufficient weight in the concentrate to make the filling operation 
pay, and the concentrate will be too thin, while if above the maximum 
limit prescribed it will be too thick to enter the pores of the partially- 
tanned leather. The revolution of the drum causes the hides to absorb 
the extract and thus materially increase their solidity and weight. 
After a sufficient quantity of the extract has been absorbed, the leather 
is removed from the drum, and dried and finished in the usual manner. 

The constituents of the sulphite extract used, from a tanner's stand- 
point, are about as follows : Total solids, forty-eight per cent. ; insolu- 
ble matter, one per cent. ; tannin, or matter that will combine with 
raw hide, from eighteen to twenty-two per cent.; non-tannins, from 
twenty-five to twenty-nine per cent. The non-tannins in this case con- 
sist of the sap and sugars of the wood , which have been treated with 
the sulphite liquor in the manufacture of the pulp, and will also con- 
tain sulphur compounds of these organic matters and the small amounts 
of lime and free sulphurous acid which have not been removed by the 
process of clarification to which the liquor has been subjected before 
being made into extract and before it reaches the tannery. 



APPENDIX. 535 

The advantage in employing purified filling liquor is that it is cheap, 
being practically a waste product, and its action is rapid and therefore 
materially reduces the cost of the procedure. This process is patented 
by William H. Teas, of Ridgway, Pa. 

PYROXYLIN IN FINISHING VARNISH FOR PATENT LEATHER. 

The following process is a method of finishing patent leather, which, 
it is claimed, is cheaper, quicker and more convenient of execution than 
other methods, and the character, gloss and wearing quality of the 
leather are enhanced. 

In manufacturing patent leather, after a sufficient number of pre- 
paratory or ground coats have been applied and pumiced when dry to 
make them smooth there is applied one or more finishing coats of a 
pure linseed oil varnish for the purpose of giving the high gloss desired. 
The inventor of this process has heretofore improved upon this common 
method by using for the preliminary coats a pyroxylin varnish and 
superimposing thereon as a gloss-giving varnish a finishing coat of dry- 
ing oil ; but in either of these two old processes certain difficulties are 
encountered in the application of the finishing coat or coats of the 
gloss-giving or drying-oil varnish. Thus, for instance, the application 
of the gloss-giving coat of linseed oil varnish frequently produces small 
pimply specks. Again it is necessary after drying the leather with the 
finishing coat of linseed oil varnish in heated chambers to expose it for- 
a certain length of time to the action of sunlight before it is sufficiently 
dry for shipment. This carries with it the necessity of large yards to 
be used in the sun-drying operation, the expenditure of considerable 
time, more especially in cloudy weather, and the constant watching of 
the skins and their removal to shelter in case of rain or storms. In 
addition to all this the finished article produced by these old processes 
shows an inclination to crack by reason of the tendency of the linseed 
oil coating to become brittle, and this cracking often occurs spontane- 
ously by mere changes of temperature without apparent cause. 

By means of this improved process the above-mentioned difficulties 
are removed. It has been discovered, as a result of a long series of 
experiments, that if the gloss- giving or finishing coats consist of a mix- 
ture of linseed or other drying oil and pyroxylin in solution, with or 
without the addition of substances to increase the flexibility, the coats 
do not have a tendency to form a pimply surface, but dry smoothly 
and evenly. Again, the finishing coats can be sufficiently heated in 
the drying room for immediate shipment without the tedious exposure 
to the sun, thus insuring the continuity of the manufacture irrespective 
of climatic conditions. Finally, the finished article has lost much of 
its tendency to crack spontaneously. The pyroxylin in solution which 
is added to the finishing coats of drying-oil not only seems to impart 
tenacity to these coats, but also to retard oxidation, which is constantly 
going on in the linseed oil coats after they are dry. The proportion 



536 APPENDIX. 

of linseed oil and pyroxylin, which constitute the gloss-giving coats, 
may be varied within wide limits. Thus where the finished product is 
to be used for the tips of shoes, which are not subjected to much bend- 
ing, a less proportion of drying oil may be used than when the leather 
is to be employed for the body of shoes, which must suffer considerable 
bending. The proportions of drying-oil and pyroxylin in the mixture 
may be varied from such as contain more pyroxylin than drying-oil to 
such as contain more oil than pyroxylin. In fact, somewhat small 
quantities of pyroxylin are calculated to impart to the mixture the de- 
sirable qualities above enumerated. For the material above referred 
to, intended to impart flexibility to the finishing or gloss-giving coat, 
any substance ordinarily employed to give flexibility to pyroxylin may 
be used, for instance, non-drying oils. There is first applied to the 
leather one or more of the usual preliminary coats such as linseed oil 
with a pigment, or a mixture of linseed oil and a soft rubber or a coat- 
ing of pyroxylin. On these preliminary coats is applied one or more 
gloss-giving coats consisting of a mixture of a drying oil and pyroxylin, 
which is formed by dissolving the pyroxylin in one of its usual solvents , 
such as a compound ether or a ketone, and then mixing the pyroxylin 
solution with the drying oil in the desired proportion. There may be 
used for the gloss-giving coats a mixture of drying oil and pyroxylin 
prepared as follows : 

Take a solution of pyroxylin in amyl acetate by itself or mixed with 
benzine or turpentine. Thus six ounces of pyroxylin may be added to 
one gallon of amyl acetate. To 80 cubic centimeters of this solution 
may be added 80 cubic centimeters of linseed oil or linseed-oil varnish, 
that is to say, linseed oil which has been boiled with suitable driers. 
The preliminary coat or coats having been applied, the gloss-giving 
coat or coats, consisting of a mixture of a drying oil and pyroxylin in 
solution, are applied, and when these have been dried in heated 
chambers, the leather is finished and ready for its intended use. This 
process is patented by Byron B. Goldsmith, of New York. 

PROCESS OF FINISHING UPPER LEATHER. 

The leather produced by this process possesses decided advantages 
as regards cheapness, durability, utility and general appearance, and 
particular attention is directed to the inner or flesh side of the leather, 
which is colored a dull blue-black, giving it a distinctive appearance, 
which is so desirable , and furthermore assisting materially to lessen the 
cost of its manufacture. 

The process used for the finishing of a calf or kangaroo skin or hide 
into leather adapted for the above uses is as follows : An unstulfed calf 
or kangaroo skin or hide, tanned by a gambler, quebracho or other 
vegetable tanning process, is stuffed to its proper constituency by the 
use of fat-liquor and then dried in the usual rnanner. The inner or 
flesh side is colored a blue-black by any desirable composition. After 



APPENDIX. 537 

the flesh or inner side is blue- blacked, the outer or grain side is colored 
a jet-black by any desirable composition. After the inner and outer 
faces of the skin or hide have been colored as desired, the same is then 
slicked out smooth to set out the grain on its outer or grained face. The 
skin is then dried in the usual manner. It is then staked and trimmed 
in the ordinary way. 

The skin or hide is then seasoned by the use of blue-stone, iron, log- 
wood, ammonia, blood and nigrosine, the proportions being as follows : 
Blue-stone, one-half pint; iron, one-eighth ounce; logwood, one-half 
pint ; blood, one pint ; nigrosine, one- half pint. The skin or hide after 
it has been seasoned, is then dried at 120° to 180° Fahr. After it is 
dried it is glazed in any desirable manner. 

After it has passed through the glazing process it is again staked. 
When it has been staked it is seasoned again by the use of blue-stone, 
iron, logwood, ammonia, blood and nigrosine in quantities and propor- 
tions the same as in the first instance. After the seasoning it is dried 
at from 120° to i8o° Fahr., and is then glazed in any desirable 
manner. 

After the glazing process is finished, it is again staked, seasoned 
again by the use of blue-stone, one-half pint ; iron, one-eighth ounce ; 
logwood, one- half pint ; blood, one pint; nigrosine, one- half pint. It 
is then again dried and glazed, and is now ready for the market. 

The leather produced by the foregoing process has an unusually 
high- polished, grained surface, and possesses all the qualities of the 
ordinary leathers now on the market. It has to a great extent the ap- 
pearance of patent or enameled leather, as well as glazed kids and other 
glazed leathers. At the same time, when in use it will be free from 
excessive cracking or breaking, which is usual in patent and enameled 
leathers. A patent has been taken out on the above process by Messrs. 
C. E. and H, A. Lappe, of Pittsburg, Pa. 

PATENTED PROCESS FOR WEIGHTING SOLE LEATHER. 

This process is said to increase the durability and wearing capacity 
of sole leather ; also to increase its weight while changing its general 
character for the better. Ordinary sole leather is soaked in water until 
it is thoroughly pliant. It is then allowed to become about half dry, 
next colored in any approved manner , and then given a good coating 
of boiled linseed oil applied upon the grain side only. This coat of 
oil is allowed to dry in thoroughly. 

A bath is then prepared by mixing together Portland cement, borax 
and cold water in the proportion of eight ounces of cement, two ounces 
of borax and enough water to reduce the mixture to the consistency of 
milk. The leather is then placed in the bath. One pound of leather 
is allowed to so much of the bath as contains one-half pound of the 
cement and borax in a dry state. 

The leather is allowed to stay in this bath for twenty-four hours. 



538 APPENDIX. 

then removed and examined by cutting its edge. If the mixture has 
not permeated the pores of the leather, the latter is returned to the 
bath. The longer it remains in the bath, the firmer and heavier it be- 
comes. When the substance of the leather has reached a proper con- 
sistency, it is removed and allowed to dry. When nearly dry, it is 
given a good coat of linseed oil applied upon both the flesh and grain 
sides. 

It is claimed for this process that sole leather treated as described 
has its durability increased from one hundred to two hundred per cent, 
and is made waterproof. It matters not whether the process be em- 
ployed in connection with the complete leather or with leather in the 
process of tanning. The treatment appears to be equally efficacious in 
all cases. This process is patented by Hugh Mackay, of El Paso, 
Texas. 

TANNING WriH GAMBIER, GOLDEN SEAL, ACID, AND SWEET FERN. 

A composition of matter in connection with processes of tanning, 
and consisting of gambler, ten pounds; sulphuric acid, one pound; 
golden seal, in powder, one-half pound ; sweet fern extract, two pounds ; 
water, fifteen gallons, has been made the subject of a patent. The ob- 
jects of this compound are to provide a tanning solution that will act 
speedily and effectively in tanning and dressing hides, and one that 
combines economy of ingredients with superiority over other com- 
pounds by reason of its penetrating properties and beauty of finish. 

In preparing the mixture used as a tanning compound, the gambler 
is dissolved independently in water, and then put in mixture with the 
other ingredients by ordinary mechanical means, the sulphuric acid 
being the last ingredient. 

The compound having the function of dressing the hides after pass- 
ing through the tanning process is composed of the following ingredi- 
ents : Soft water, six gallons ; sulphuric acid, one-half pound; alum, 
one pound ; corn starch, one pound. The first step in the process of 
treating the hides or skins is to immerse the same in the tanning mix- 
ture, and letting them remain for one-half hour, then exposing them to 
the air for fifteen minutes. Being again returned to the mixture, they 
are allowed to remain for about twelve hours longer, when they are 
again exposed to the air for a short period of time. This work is re- 
peated three times in the next twelve hours, then once a day for about 
eight days, when the hides or skins will be sufficiently tanned to be 
subjected to the next part of the process. This is the dressing mix- 
ture, and in this the hides or skins are allowed to remain about one 
hour, then washed in clean water, and hung up until they have become 
about half dry. They are then pulled and washed until thoroughly 
dry, when they will be sufficiently dressed, and will come out white, 
soft and pliable. A slight change in the dressing process is adhered to 
in the treatment of furs or skins with the hair on. In such cases the 



APPENDIX, 539 

skins are immersed in the dressing compound , and let remain twelve 
hours ; they are then taken out, washed in clear water, and hung up 
until half dry. They are then worked soft and pliable, and the fur or 
hair cleaned, and a fine finish is said to be obtained in this way. 

TANNING WITH BARK LIQUOR, SALTPETRE, ALUM AND GLAUBER'S SALT. 

Among the various processes 'that have been brought forward for the 
purpose of tanning leather with bark liquors in less time than is com- 
monly consumed, is one by which the bark liquor is supplemented by 
a solution of saltpetre, alum and Glauber's salt. 

It is well known that by the older methods of tanning the hides, 
after the hair has been removed, are placed in weak liquor, and for a 
period of from three to four months, are left in the same, with more or 
less frequent handling, and changing of the liquor, until finally they are 
tanned. Much care has to be exercised lest too strong liquor be used, 
in which case the tannic acid of the same will act upon the grain of the 
hides, rendering it crisp and brittle, materially impairing the value of 
the leather. By combining the above-named chemicals with bark 
liquor, they unite with the liquor in such a way as to render the action 
on the gelatine and fiber of the hide harmless, and at the same time 
admit of the hides remaining in the vats in which they are first placed 
until they are completely tanned. 

The tanning liquor is prepared in sufficient quantity, either from oak 
or hemlock bark, of i8° or 20° strength of the barkometer to cover 
fifty skins, this being the usual number placed in each vat. To the 
liquor is added a solution made as follows : Four pounds of saltpetre, 
four pounds of alum, and five pounds of Glauber's salt, dissolved in hot 
water. After this solution has been added to the bark liquor, the 
skins are placed in the mixture, the skins and the mixture being agitated 
once an hour for the first twelve hours. After this has been done, they 
may remain in the liquor six days, unless they are very heavy, in which 
case they may remain eight days in the vat, at the end of which time 
they will be found to be thoroughly tanned. They are then to be 
washed, dried and finished in the usual manner, unless they are to be 
sold in the rough or made into sole leather, in which case they should 
be rinsed in a vat containing sufficient water, to which are added three 
pounds of cream of tartar. This does not enhance the value of the 
leather more than to give it a nice, clean, bright appearance. 
Patented by J. W. Hitt, Lisle, N. Y. 

TURKEY- RED OIL IN 'i'ANNING AND OILING LEATHER. 

In tanning leather of the various kinds and by the various processes 
the use of oil plays an important part, and the same has been applied 
in various ways, though principally as an emulsion with alkalies or their 
carbonates, or as an emulsion containing a free fatty acid. It has been 
found by Armand Miiller, of New York City, that the whole tanning 



540 APPENDIX. 

process may be greatly improved, shortened and simplified by the use 
of sulpho-compounds, or mixtures of the sulpho-compounds of the 
various fats and oils with fats or oils or free fatty acids — that is, by the 
use of the so-called "Turkey-red oils " or " alizarine oils." These oils 
are used in this process of tanning in place of fats or oils, or emulsions 
of oils or fats, whether in bark- tanning, alum-tanning or tawing, oil- 
tanning or chamoising, chrome-tanning, or any other in which oil or 
its equivalent is used. 

The materials present ready means of effecting the proper absorption 
of oils and fats, in the shortest possible time, in the most rational man- 
ner and with a considerable saving of material. This refers as well to 
the manufacture of common tanned leather — that is, to ordinary bark- 
tanning, as to tawing and chamoising. Furthermore, the great ad- 
vantages are presented that combinations may be effected that insure 
the tanning materials being more firmly fixed upon the fiber, resulting, 
in much tougher leather. The benefit derived from the use of these 
oils is due to the fact that they are soluble in water, contain large 
quantities of undecom posed or unchanged oil, or free fats, or fatty acids, 
and present these in a manner and condition to permeate the skins 
with great ease and uniformity, thereby also effecting great saving in 
material and labor. 

The oils or sulpholeates are to be produced in the well-known way, 
by the gradual action of twenty-five to fifty per cent, sulphuric acid 
upon triglycerides, oil-seeds, etc., as well as upon semi-liquid and fixed 
fats, with neutralization of the resulting acid sulpho- mixture by means 
of potassium or sodium hydrate, or ammonia. 

A few examples of the methods of using the sulpholeates in tanning 
leather are given. First proceeding, upon hides to be bark-tanned. 
The well cleaned and properly swelled hides are placed in a neutral, 
five to seven per cent, sulpholeate solution. After the expiration of a 
few hours they are to be taken out, allowed to drip and to dry in the 
air or in a damp heated chamber, whereupon after complete drying 
they are washed , and the operation is repeated to completion. The 
remaining oil preparation can always be employed anew, without par- 
ticular addition thereto. The hide thus prepared and nearly tanned is 
next placed in the tan vat in the usual manner, or may be subjected to 
any other process, as, for instance, to a process of quick tanning. 

The hide with the usual quantity of tan stuff absorbed is tanned in 
half the time, is much better in quality and never brittle. The leather 
is now treated as usual, and fatted or oiled, though again in place of 
oil, fat or degras, a six (greater or less) per cent, sulpholeate solution 
may be employed, and finally the hide is dried and washed. The 
washing, however, may be omitted. Second proceeding: The raw 
hides are softened, cleaned, swelled and tanned in the usual manner, 
and then instead of being smeared or stuffed with fats, oils or degras 
they are passed through a seven to ten per cent, solution of the oils in 
lukewarm water, whereupon they are allowed to drip and are then slowly 



APPENDIX. 541 

dried. The leather is then at once bark-tanned, and may be colored 
with logwood with much finer effect than ordinary leather. 

ALUM- TAWING WlTfl TURKEV-RED OILS. 

The skins tanned by the usual process of tawing have the disadvan- 
tage that by water a part of the alum, clay, or argillaceous earth is 
withdrawn from them, whereby their strength is much reduced. This 
evil can best be overcome by the application of the sulpholeates, either 
before or after the actual tanning with alum and salt. The leather 
acquires by this treatment increased solidity, coupled with flexibility 
and softness and a finer appearance. The sulpholeate solutions are 
admirably adapted to replace the egg yolk used in the manufacture of 
kid gloves. To the oil solution, according to the French method, 
some phenol (carbolic acid) is added, although many other suitable 
soluble substances, such as salicylic acid, tar oil, etc., may be employed 
to counteract the too strong heating of the stuffed skins when laid or 
spread or stored to cure. The sulpholeates may also be used in the 
chrome process, resulting in increased solidity and toughness, together 
with softness and pliability, than results from the application of soap 
solutions. 

OIL TANNING OR CHAMOISING. 

The skins prepared in the usual manner are passed through a twenty- 
five per cent. Turkey-red oil solution, whereupon they are allowed to 
dry, are laid in a moderately warm room in a heap and carefully cov- 
ered up. They are then hung up in the air and allowed to dry slowly,, 
when they are again oiled in the same solution after they have been laid 
in lukewarm water to rid them of any adhering unchanged alkaline 
sulpholeate, are filled, again laid in a heap, again dried, and then 
treated with a weak solution of alkali. The dried leather is then 
stretched and rubbed to give it flexibility , which has been somewhat 
lost in drying, and is then completely oil- tanned. 

The results may be variously modified, by greater or less concentra- 
tion of the Turkey-red oil solution, by higher temperature in drying, as 
also by more frequent passes or dippings. In all cases the absorption 
of the fats and fatty acids takes place sooner, more evenly and with 
greater certainty than in the ordinary procedure ; and there is no loss 
of fat, because the remainder of the solution may be applied with equal 
effect upon a fresh lot of skins. Combinations with the salts of alumina 
may also be employed here. 

The method preferred is as follows : Steep the prepared skins in a 
solution containing preferably fifteen per cent, of the soluble oil; dry, 
and if necessary repeat the operation, and then proceed in the usual 
manner of tanning, according to the kind of leather wanted. 

TANNING AND PLUMPING LEATHER WITH FORMIC ALDEHYDE. 

The following process is a patented method of tanning, designed 



542 APPENDIX. 

for the final finishing of East India kips, goatskins, basils and white 
leather, and the improvement of hides and skins imperfectly tanned 
by cutch, terra japonica, divi-divi, etc., so that the required plumpness, 
weight, color, softness and moisture-resisting qualities are obtained. 

The process consists essentially of two steps, the first of which is 
concerned with the introduction of materials which will render the 
skin sensitive to the fixing or tanning agent employed in the second 
step. This results in a fulling or plumping effect, clearing the grain, 
and at the same time feeding the leather. The first step has the same 
purpose as that commonly attained by the employment of old and sour 
liquors and weak solutions of extracts which precede the actual process 
of tanning. 

The second step consists of treating the hide or skin to the action 
of formic aldehyde, a material possessing the property of fixing the 
connective tissue and fibers in the swelled and plumped, tawed or par- 
tially tanned condition, produced by the first treatment, and at the 
same time of fixing in, upon or between the fibers, materials previously 
supplied by the first step of the process to contribute special qualities, 
such as body, color, suppleness, weight, etc., essential to a solid and 
well-nourished leather. 

The use of the formic aldehyde in the second step is not a mere 
aggregation of elements or materials, as it is in its nature and effects 
entirely different from the materials employed in the first step, and 
could not be substituted for them to produce the effects of the first 
step, while it possesses distinctive and positive characters by which it 
acts upon both the skin and the materials with which it has been im- 
pregnated by the first step in a manner peculiar to itself. The formic 
aldehyde is used in the second part of this process strictly as a tanning 
agent to render the skin non-putrescible and insoluble. 

Advantage is taken of the property possessed by various tanning and 
tawing agents such as alum, salt, argol, eggs, flour, vegetable extracts, 
gambier, cutch and the artificial and natural tannins used in making 
leather, many of which have none or only feeble tanning properties — 
of causing a curling up or separation of the fibers, and the deposition 
therein and upon, of materials which prevent them from becoming 
agglutinated, thereby allowing the interlacing fibers to move readily 
upon each other, and which at the same time add material to the skin, 
which is of advantage in respect to weight, body, color, etc., whereby 
a plump, soft, pliable, tough and elastic leather may be produced. 

Leather is of so many varied qualities and varieties that it is impos- 
sible to specify any one of the agents, such as alum, eggs, flour, ex- 
tracts, gambier, tannins, etc., as being capable of meeting all require- 
ments which will produce the effect or effects desired. 

The following particular case will serve to illustrate the steps involved : 
Sheepskins, goatskins or hides, having been previously prepared for 
treatment by softening, unhairing and other necessary steps, usually 
referred to as " beam-house treatment," are placed in a drum or reel. 



APPENDIX. 543 

in which they may be agitated by the revolving of the drum, or the 
action of the paddles, or by any other suitable means. In the drum, 
for instance, is placed a solution of gambier extract sufficiently diluted 
to present the extract to the entire mass of skins, containing approxi- 
mately four pounds of gambier to each one hundred pounds of wet 
hides or skins, the exact quantity of gambier being based upon the 
weight of the skins or hides to be treated, also upon their acidity or 
alkalinity, according to the well-known gambier process. The hides 
or skins are then drummed in the gambier bath until they are perme- 
ated through and through by the solution. When the gambier has 
struck through or thoroughly permeated the skins, which may be ascer- 
tained by cutting into the thickest skin and examining the exposed 
interior, they are cleansed in clear water ; but this washing may be 
dispensed with and the second step proceeded with at once. 

The second step consists in subjecting the skins to the action of 
formic aldehyde, preferably in solution, although it may be employed 
in the state of gas, either in the same drum or vat in which they were 
given the first treatment, or another drum or vat may be used. 

The amount of the solution employed varies somewhat, but is based 
upon the weight of the skins to be treated, and it has been found in 
practice that three pounds of commercial forty per cent, formic alde- 
hyde solution to each one hundred pounds of wet hides or skins is suffi- 
cient for ordinary sheep or goatskins. The amount of water with which 
the formic aldehyde is diluted is based upon the bulk of the skins, being 
just sufficient to keep them well wetted and to present the formic alde- 
hyde to the entire mass of them , but not so much as to prevent the 
pounding action of the skins when revolving in the drum. 

The skins are subjected to the action of the formic aldehyde until 
permeated through and through and until they respond to the usual 
tests of good leather. In this particular case the time required is three 
hours, depending to a very considerable extent, as in the treatment by 
the first step of the process, upon the number of skins in the drum and 
the rate and mode of agitation to which they have been subjected. 

It is advisable to maintain the bath in the second step at a tempera- 
ture of not less than 80° Fahr., and not above 120° Fahr., in order to 
secure the greatest efficiency from the formic aldehyde. After the 
skins are found to have been thoroughly iixed by the formic aldehyde , 
they are washed and are then ready for the usual treatment employed 
in finishing. In case the formic aldehyde is employed in the state of 
a gas, the following method is advisable : The skins, having been 
brought to the desired state by the first step, as has been described, an 
amount of commercial formic aldehyde solution, representing three 
pounds to each one hundred pounds of wet hides or skins to be treated, 
is placed in a suitable generator, and the gas generated is allowed to 
pass, by suitable connections, into the chamber containing the skins. 
The temperature of this chamber is preferably maintained at from 110° 
to 120° Fahr., and the atmosphere of the chamber should also be kept 



544 APPENDIX. 

moist, both of which conditions are readily secured by the admissioiv 
from time to time of a small quantity of aqueous vapor by means of a 
suitable steam connection. The chamber employed should be a closed 
one , and no larger than necessary to allow the skins to be fully exposed 
to the action of the gas. 

If desired , the gas may be admitted to the drum in which the pre- 
liminary treatment took place or into a similar drum, and the skins 
agitated therein, or they may be stretched on suitable frames and 
enclosed within a stationary chamber, in either case being exposed to 
the action of the gas until they respond to the usual tests for good 
leather, say for a period of six hours, the time depending, however, on 
the thickness and character of the stock under treatment. 

The market supplies certain tanned or imperfectly tanned skins and 
hides, which have been subjected to the action of salt, alum, flour, 
eggs, vegetable extracts, gambler, cutch, tannins or other materials, 
and which do not constitute high-grade leather, but which may be 
greatly improved. The effects produced on these skins are analogous 
to those produced by the first step of the process, and it is advantageous 
to take such skins , and after softening them in water to proceed to treat 
them as described in the example cited for treating raw stock, whereby 
the results of the first step are secured with less time and material than 
is required in the treatment of raw hides or skins. In certain cases 
where the tawed or imperfectly tanned skins or hides have the plump- 
ness, color, weight, etc., desired, and which would be in other instances 
secured by means of the first step of this process, the second step may 
be at once proceeded with, which consists essentially in the fixation of 
the natural or added constituents of the skins. 

It has been found by a large number of practical tests that the action 
of the natural tannins as introduced into the skin by the first step of 
this process may be greatly hastened and augmented by the employ- 
ment of formic aldehyde in conjunction therewith, as accomplished in 
the second step. Thus with the pyrogallol tannins, a considerable 
portion of which possess little or no tanning power, a compound is 
formed whereby all the tannin is rendered available, and consequently 
a greater action secured from a given amount of extract, a matter of 
importance in point of economy. Again it has been found that by means 
of formic aldehyde used in conjunction with, but subsequent to the 
use of those natural tannins containing " reds," as introduced into the 
hides by the first step of this process, these substances, which in many 
instances are insoluble and not directly available for tanning, can be 
fixed in the leather ; and again with other tannins the deposit of 
" whites " or " bloom " is prevented. The peculiar action of formic 
aldehyde upon the fibers results in filling the skins — plumping them, 
thereby effecting what is commonly known as feeding the leather. 

A special advantage afforded by this process is that it overcomes the 
obstacles hitherto encountered in the use of material like divi-divi, 
which add to the leather substances extremely susceptible to fermenta- 



APPENDIX. 545 

tion and which lead to loss of leather in damp weather. The superior 
bactericidal and anti- fermentative properties of formic aldehyde prevent 
this fermentation and the subsequent softening of the leather. It also 
prevents moulding during the drying of the finished leather. 

Formic aldehyde has the property of fixing the collogen and other 
gelatinous constituents of the skin in the condition in which they are 
when subjected to its action ; and it has been found to be highly advan- 
tageous in using formic aldehyde in the manufacture of leather to pre- 
pare the hides or skins by some preliminary treatment of tawing or 
tanning. They may be alum, oil, chamois, chrome or vegetable tanned 
in the first part of the process, and then taken ready prepared and 
submitted to the fixing action of formic aldehyde. 

Patented by Messrs. Dolley & Crank, Philadelphia, Pa. 

LEATHER FOR HANDLE GRIPS. 

A compound has been invented for the purpose of assisting in effect- 
ing a hand grasp, more particularly adapted to be used in connection 
with the handles of golf sticks, tennis rackets and similar instruments, 
whereby the handles are prevented from turning or twisting in the 
hand. 

The compound is prepared in the following manner : To one ounce 
of glycerine add ten grains of powdered rosin and thoroughly mix the 
two ingredients together, after which the compound is left standing 
twenty- four hours before it is used, the ingredients to be mixed together 
while in a cold state. The preparation is then applied to the handle 
portion of the instrument, and as the handles are usually covered with 
leather or buckskin, it will be readily seen that the preparation will be 
absorbed by the leather, the rosin causing an adhesion between the 
hand of the user and the handle, thereby preventing the latter from 
twisting in the hand. This preparation further serves as a moistener 
that keeps the hands from becoming sore, insures an easy, compact 
grasp and preserves the leather. Its properties are lasting. 

This compound has been patented by Anthony T. Johnson, of 
Mineola, N. Y. 

PROCESS FOR RENDERING LEATHER WATERPROOF. 

The following is given as a process for rendering leather waterproof : 
A bath is made of about one pound of wax and half an ounce of oil 
of mirbane (nitrobenzol), which is an oily substance. After the wax 
has been melted in a hot-water bath over a fire the oily substance is 
added and thoroughly stirred in. In this heated bath the leather is 
immersed for from four to five hours, according to the degree of its 
hardness. The oil of mirbane has the quality of completely coiTibining 
with the wax without leaving any fatty deposit upon the leather after 
the latter has been subjected to the second bath. It has been found 
that oil of bergamot is an equivalent to the oil of mirbane. 

35 



546 APPENDIX. 

A second bath is prepared composed of equal parts of alcohol and 
benzine, which is also slightly heated. The leather taken out of the 
first bath is immersed in the second bath and subjected to its action 
for about half an hour. After removal it is dried in the open air and 
is then ready for use. The second bath will cause the wax to be re- 
moved clean from the surface of the leather, and practice has demon- 
strated that by the process described the wax will be retained within 
the pores of the leather. It is claimed that the leather has increased 
strength and durability when treated with this process, and poor leather 
is improved in quality. 

This process has been patented by Charles Bohm, of New York. 

CHROME TANNING WITH GLUCOSE, GLYCERINE, STEAM AND SACCHARINE 

SUBSTANCKS. 

This process is designed to provide a metallic tanning of hides to 
produce a leather having the same capacity for finishing, working or use 
as bark- tanned leather, while retaining the toughness and durability of 
chrome-tanned stock. 

It consists, broadly speaking, in introducing into the fiber of the hides 
in a substantially inactive chemical state, substances containing tan- 
ning matter adapted to be released by reaction between said compounds, 
and then establishing a condition under which said reaction will take 
place. Chromic acid is employed as the substance containing the 
tanning matter, and it is introduced into the hide in substantially the 
same form and manner as in the first bath of the ordinary two-bath 
process. After the hide has become thoroughly soaked and impreg- 
nated with the chromic acid a reducing agent is introduced, such as 
glucose, which does not act at once upon the chromic acid, but is what 
may be termed " chemically inactive " for the time being toward said 
acid. When the hide has become thoroughly soaked and impregnated 
with the glucose, it will be seen that the chromic acid and glucose are 
intimately and uniformly associated together and with the fibers of the 
hide. Thus, in effect, each molecule of the chromic acid is brought 
into intimate association with its molecule of glucose on the particular 
fiber upon which the product is to act before said product is released. 
Under these circumstances when the reaction does not take place, the 
chromic acid is deposited directly and immediately upon the hide 
fibers. As the chromic and glucose are uniformly distributed through- 
out the hide fiber, it will be seen that the chromic acid will also be 
uniformly deposited thereon and the interior fibers will receive their 
due proportion of the oxide. 

In practice for one hundred pounds of hides, the first bath consists 
of six pounds of bichromate of potash or soda, four pounds of alum, four 
to six pounds of common salt, ten ounces of sulphuric acid, twenty 
ounces of hydrochloric acid, sixty gallons of water. The hides to be 
treated are prepared in the usual manner for tanning and allowed to 
soak in this bath until thoroughly impregnated with the chromic acid. 



APPENDIX. 547 

This will ordinarily take from twelve to eighteen hours depending upon 
their weight and thickness. They are then removed from the bath, set 
out and hung up until about three-fourths of the mixture in them has 
■evaporated. When in this state, they are spread out and painted on 
both sides with a solution of glucose and packed in piles for from three 
to six hours to allow the glucose to soak in and become uniformly dis- 
tributed throughout the hide. The glucose solution may contain from 
fifteen to fifty percent, of glucose dissolved in water. If applied under 
ordinary atmospheric temperatures, there will be substantially no im- 
mediate reaction between the glucose and chromic acid, they being 
under the conditions applied in an inactive state toward each other. 
Thus the glucose will soak into the hide and thoroughly and uniformly 
associate itself with the chromic acid and hide fibers before any reduc- 
ing action takes place. By painting the glucose solution onto the hide 
possible contact between the chromic acid in the hide and the glucose 
;solution from which the painting supply is taken is prevented. 

To prevent the glucose from souring in warm weather, use for three 
gallons of water, about a half pound of. quassia chips, and a half an 
ounce of carbolic acid. The quassia chips are boiled together with the 
water and the carbolic acid added, and into this is stirred the glucose 
to make up the necessary strength of the solution. 

In the chromic acid bath a small excess of sulphuric and hydrochloric 
acids tends to hasten the reduction. If a larger excess of acid be used 
the reduction will take place in a proportionately shorter time. Thus 
if it is desired to hasten the reduction, an excess of acid, preferably 
sulphuric acid, may be employed, but care should be taken that the 
excess of it is not enough to cause the reduction before the glucose is 
uniformly distributed through the hide or cause the acid to injuriously 
affect the hide fiber. 

All organic substances have more or less reducing action on chromic 
acid, and an organic compound will generally be found preferable to 
employ as a reducing agent, since its action is generally slower. 
However, even an inorganic reducing agent may be employed if the 
proper conditions are obtained for preventing immediate reduction. 
After the hides have been uniformly impregnated with the chromic 
acid and glucose a condition is established under which the reaction 
between said substances takes place to release the chromic oxide or 
tanning substance. This condition may be established in a number of 
ways, but it is preferable to use a bath of hot grease for this purpose. 
After the hides have been treated with the glucose solution and about 
■one-fourth of the moisture has evaporated therefrom, they are immersed 
in a bath of hot grease, the proportions of the ingredients of this bath 
being dependent upon the purposes for which the leather is to be used. 

For the production of a suitable sole leather make up a bath as fol- 
lows : One hundred pounds of stearic acid, twelve and one- half pounds 
of carnauba wax , six and one-fourth pounds of vaseline , six and one- 
fourth pounds of beeswax. This grease bath is reduced to a liquid and 



548 APPENDIX. 

kept at a temperature between 85 degrees and 90 degrees Centigrade 
(185 and 194 degrees Fahr.), and the hides are suspended in this bath 
until the grease has thoroughly penetrated the thickest parts of them. 
This will be found to take only a comparatively short time, an hour or 
more being all that is necessary. The effect of the hot grease is to 
establish a condition under which the chromic acid is thoroughly re- 
duced and at the same time the hide is thoroughly filled with grease. 
For sole leather the hides are then rolled and finished in the usual way. 
For harness leather the proportion of vaseline in the stuffing bath must 
be increased to make the leather as soft as wanted — say twenty-five 
pounds of vaseline instead of six and a quarter pounds as above stated. 
To obtain the best results the glucose should be kept at about 50 de- 
grees Centigrade (122 degrees Fahr.). 

While this process attains its greatest utility in tanning thick or heavy 
hides, it may also be used to advantage for thin ones , and will be found 
to produce a high grade of uniformly tanned leather. 

Another process quite similar to the foregoing one is carried out as 
follows : The hides are prepared for tanning in the usual way and then 
placed in a chromic acid bath until they are thoroughly permeated with 
the chromic acid. This bath may consist of four pounds of bichromate 
of potash, four pounds of hydrochloric acid and from four hundred to 
six hundred pounds of water, which will form a chromic acid bath as wilt 
be readily understood by those skilled in the art. 

When thoroughly permeated with chromic acid the hide is subjected 
to a bath of an organic reducing agent, such as glycerin or glucose, or 
some other saccharine substance. The proportions of this bath may be 
five pounds of glucose or other reducing agent to five pounds of water. 
Allow the hide to become thoroughly saturated with this solution , which 
will take about thirty minutes. 

Under the conditions of application there will be no substantial re- 
ducing action between the chromic acid and glucose for a considerable 
length of time, so that the glucose will uniformly penetrate the hide 
before any substantial reduction takes place. This permits intimate 
and uniform association between the chromic acid and glucose before 
reduction, so that when reduction does take place the chromic oxide is 
uniformly deposited on the fibers of the hide. Thus it will be seen that 
the two substances, glucose and chromic acid, are introduced into the 
fiber of the hide in a substantially inactive chemical state, and become 
intimately and uniformly associated together and with the fiber before 
reduction takes place. 

The next step is to remove the hides from the glucose solution and 
subject them to a bath of hot vapors, such as steam not under pressure. 
This may be done by hanging them in a room containing steam. A 
convenient method for introducing the steam is by means of pipes 
arranged in any convenient manner in the chamber and provided with 
holes in their walls adapted to permit escape of the steam into the cham- 
ber. The hides are left hanging in the steam chamber until the chromic 



APPENDIX. 549 

acid has been thoroughly reduced. With thin stock this would take 
about one-half hour, and with thicker hides a proportionately longer 
time. The effect is to cause the chromic acid to be reduced to chrome 
oxide, and the conditions are most favorable for causing that oxide to 
combine thoroughly with the gelatinous substances of the hide. The 
water vapors present serve to maintain the softness of the hides during 
reduction. The latter taking place uniformly throughout the hides will 
cause a uniform deposit of chrome oxide on the fibers and consequently 
a uniformly tanned leather. 

After the hides have undergone this step they are marketable leather 
which does not need any further stuffing to make it retain its plump- 
ness. It is suitable for such purposes as belting, upholstering and 
enameled goods. In cases where it is desired to have a greased leather 
it may be stuffed in the ordinary manner. 

A third process in which glycerine takes the place of glucose is as 
follows : The first bath consists in impregnating the hides with chromic 
acid. There are various ways of doing this, but a bath made of four 
pounds of bichromate of potash and four pounds of hydrochloric acid to 
four hundred to six hundred pounds of water is a preferred method. 
This bath is sufficient for one hundred pounds of hides ; or in place of 
it a bath of four pounds of bichromate of potash, three pounds of 
sulphuric acid and three pounds of alum to the same amount of water 
may be used. The hides are left in this bath from twelve to forty-eight 
hours, in direct proportion to their thickness. When thoroughly satu- 
ated they are removed from the bath and hung on horses or racks to 
drain until about one-fifth of the moisture in them has run off or 
evaporated. They are then slicked out and given a coat of glycerin. 
Apply this in its undiluted commercial form , but glycerin of a differ- 
ent state of purity or dilution may be employed. The amount of it 
nsed is preferably slightly in excess of that which is absorbed by the 
hide under treatment. However, under the conditions of application 
there will be no substantial reducing action between the chromic acid 
and glycerin for a considerable length of time, so that the glycerin will 
uniformly penetrate the hide before reduction takes place. The hides 
are then laid one upon the other in piles in a flat condition and allowed 
to remain thus from twelve to forty-eight hours, according to their thick- 
ness. At the end of that time the chromic acid will then have been 
thoroughly reduced. The reduction taking place uniformly throughout 
the hide causes a uniform deposit of the chromic oxide on the hide 
fibers, resulting in a uniformly tanned leather. The hides are then 
washed, dried and stuffed in the usual manner, depending upon the 
kind of leather that is being made. While it is preferable to use glycerin 
to coat the hides after they have been removed from the first bath any 
saccharine solution of rapid penetrating power might be employed, 
varying the strength of the solution according to the thickness of the 
hides and the length of time they are allowed to remain in the bath. 
This saccharine solution may be made of any of the usual forms of sugar 



5 so APPENDIX. 

and is preferably applied at or near the point of saturation, although a 
weaker solution may be used with good results. In this case also the 
amount applied is preferably slightly in excess of that which is absorbed 
by the stock under treatment. The hides should be allowed to remain, 
in the solution from ten to twenty minutes. After having been removed 
from the saccharine solution they are piled up flat and allowed to 
remain thus until the chromic acid has been reduced, which takes from' 
two to three days. They are then washed, dried and stuffed as above 
described. 

It has been found that with the hides treated by this process the 
tannage or the reduction of the chromic acid to chromic oxide takes 
place uniformly throughout the hide fiber, making a leather which is 
firm and pliable and devoid of gristle or untanned portions, and the 
exterior of which is not brittle or liable to crack. 

William G. and Albert C. Roach, of Cincinnati, Ohio, have patented 
the above described methods of tanning, the patent having been 
assigned to the Cincinnati Chrome Leather Company. 

NEW METHOD OF CHROME TANNING. 

This process is nearly identical in its manipulations with the regular 
two-bath process, as will be seen by the description. It can be executed 
in two baths or one bath. 

DIRECTIONS FOR ONE BATH. 

Use bichromate of potash 4 per cent, of the weight of the skins. 

" muriatic 20 degrees Be 3 per cent, of the weight of the skins. 

When the skins are thoroughly impregnated with this liquor and 
seasoned, add to the bath, while the skins are in motion, of 

S. Z. solution 20 per cent. 

S. K. solution 31; per cent. 

These solutions should be mixed before adding them to the bath. 
Then add, the skins being in motion. 

Sulphuric acid, 66 degrees Be 5 per cent. 

Before adding the acid, mix it with about thirty times or more its 
weight of water. Then add this mixture through a lead-lined wooden 
funnel, long enough to reach to the bottom of the vat, and at one corner 
of it, while the goods are in motion. 

After about one and a half days the skins are done. No damage will 
result to them should they remain a longer time in the liquor. When 
done, wash and finish them. This tannage produces a finer grain, less 
contracted, besides sulphur, as in the " hypo '' process, is not present. 

Skins by this tannage are pre-eminent for making enamel or patent- 
finish leather. 



APPENDIX, 551 

PROPORTION OF MAKING SOLUTIONS. 

For S. Z. solution use nitrite of soda 80 pounds. 

Hot water 84 pounds. 

For S. K. solution use chloride of lime (fresh) 48 pounds. 

Soda ash 48 pounds. 

Hot water 384 pounds. 

For S, K. solution dissolve the soda ash in hot water. When all is 
dissolved add through a sieve the chloride of lime, keeping the liquor 
always well stirred. When all the lime is stirred in, leave the liquor at 
rest until it becomes clear, say two days, then draw off the clear liquor 
for use as above, and throw the sediment away. 

Both liquors S. Z. and S. K. may be kept in one vessel — carboy, vat or 
hogshead — provided the properties are kept up, and when wanted for 
use the proper quantity is taken out. A wooden tank or hogshead 
should be used for making the solution. 

In place of solutions S. Z. and S. K., as above, peroxide of sodium 
with sulphuric acid may used. To each hundred gallons of water in 
the vat, add five pounds and five ounces sulphuric acid, 62 degrees 
B^. ; stir well ; then add, sifting in, four pounds of peroxide of sodium 
in small quantities ; while stirring well ; use hand- warm water for the 
bath. After this bath is ready put into it the previously chromed skins, 
and paddle them until they are tanned. 

THE SCHULTZ PROCESS OF CHROME TANNING. 

In the practical application of the original Schultz process the skins 
are tanned in the following manner : The first bath consists of four 
pounds of bichromate of potash and two pounds of muriatic acid in 
sufficient water to enable them to process nicely. The quantities of 
bichromate of potash and acid mentioned are for every one hundred 
pounds of skins, weighed as they come from the preparatory processes. 
The bichromate of potash is first dissolved in hot water, and then the 
muriatic acid is added. This first bath may be applied to the skins in 
a drum or in a vat. When a drum is used, from ten to fifteen gallons 
of water are required for every hundred pounds of skins, and they are 
drummed in the yellow chrome liquor until thoroughly impregnated 
with it, when the first bath is completed. When a paddle vat is used, 
enough water is required to cover the skins, so that they are allowed to 
float and turn in the liquor by the action of the paddles. Both 
methods are employed. The drum method is, however, usually pre- 
ferred, as the results are accomplished in shorter time. It is highly 
important that the skins are thoroughly impregnated with the chrome 
liquor, in order that they may be completely tanned in the second 
bath. The length of time consumed by the first bath depends upon 
the thickness of the stock. Very light sheep- and goat- skins require 
only a short time, sometimes less than an hour, while heavier goods 
need longer time. 



552 APPENDIX. 

When the skins are removed from the liquor, the strength is not 
usually exhausted, and the liquor may be used for another lot of skins 
by strengthening it up with bichromate of potash and acid. When 
bichromate of potash is acted upon by muriatic acid, there results 
chromic acid and chloride of potash. The latter does not assist at all 
the tanning, neither does it do any harm. While the skins are sat- 
urated with chromic acid, they are in a very sensitive condition, and 
require careful and intelligent handling. They should not be exposed 
to the air or strong sunlight, but kept protected until they are placed 
in the second bath. The practical object of soaking or drumming the 
skins in the chromic acid liquor is to have the chromic acid in them 
when they go into the second bath, in which the actual tanning takes 
place. After the first bath is completed and the goods are removed 
from the liquor, they should be left in piles for a few hours, in order 
that the surplus liquor may drain off, or they may be pressed or struck 
out, and are then ready for the second bath. 

The original formula for this part of the process was ten pounds of 
hyposulphite of soda and two and one-half pounds of muriatic acid for 
every one hundred pounds of skins, The hyposulphite of soda is dis- 
solved in hot water and then the muriatic acid is poured in and the 
solution is well stirred, and then incorporated in the required quantity 
of water. This part of the process is usually done in paddle vats. The 
skins are left in the liquor until the yellow color has entirely disap- 
peared and they have assumed a pale bluish color through the thickest 
part of the heaviest skin, which is perceived by cutting. By the time 
this has been accomplished the skins are tanned and may then be re- 
moved from the liquor and washed thoroughly, and then finished. For 
the second bath it is good practice to make up a liquor by using only 
half of the quantities named, and after the sulphur smell has become 
faint and the skins seem to have absorbed all the sulphurous acid, to 
add the other half of the materials used and leaving them in until they 
are entirely leathered. Good results are also obtained by dipping them 
as they come from the press or the striking machine after the first bath, 
in a weak solution of hyposulphite of soda and acid. By this method 
they are not subjected to the strong solution at the start, which some- 
times causes a rough grain and closes the pores, which are especially 
undesirable on grain-finished leather. 

The quantities of hyposulphite of soda and muriatic acid required by 
a lot of skins depend somewhat upon their condition when they go into 
the second bath. Usually it requires two and one-half times as much 
hyposulphite of soda as of bichromate of potash used. The work of 
the second liquor can be accomplished in a few hours, although the 
best results are obtained when the goods are left in the liquor over 
night. They may go into the liquor, say at four o'clock, and be pad- 
dled until six o'clock, and after lying in the liquor over night, may be 
paddled a short time in the morning, and will then be thoroughly tan- 
ned. It is never productive of the best results to hurry the skins. 



APPENDIX. 5 53 

The longer time they are given in both the first and the second bath, 
the better will be the final result. 

The muriatic acid acting upon the hyposulphite of soda causes the 
formation of sulphurous acid, sulphur, and chloride of sodium. The 
sulphurous acid thus formed is the active agent of the bath, and by its 
action upon the chromic acid of the first bath with which the skins are 
impregnated, causes the formation of chromic oxide throughout them, 
and this results in leather. Skins can also be tanned by reversing the 
usual order, and first soaking them in the liquor of hyposulphite of 
soda and acid, and then applying to them the chrome liquor. The 
time consumed is considerably shortened when the liquors are used at 
a temperature of about ninety degrees Fahr. For chemical reasons it 
is necessary when tanning with this process to use enough muriatic acid 
in the first bath to liberate all the chromic oxide. In consequence of 
this, and because the tanner does not always understand the process 
and fails to properly adjust the proportions, there is an excess of muri- 
atic acid used which remains as such in the liquor not in combination 
with the bichromate of potash. This results in injury to the leather. 
Chromic acid is frequently used by tanners in the first bath. In this 
case, no muriatic acid is required ; only so much chromic acid is taken 
as of bichromate of potash, i. e., if a tanner would use four pounds of 
potash and two pounds of acid he would require, to accomplish the same 
results, four pounds of chromic acid and no muriatic acid at all. 

METALLIC ZINC IN CHROME TANNING. 

The following description relates to an improved process of chrome 
tanning, by which some economy and other advantages are obtained. 
The beam-house work for this process is the same as for any other pro- 
cess of chrome tanning. The tanning is also practically the same, 
with the exception that in this process a continuous evolution of nas- 
cent hydrogen is provided for in the second or reducing bath. The 
nascent hydrogen operates to change the sulphurous acid present in the 
second bath into hyposulphurous acid, which is a very powerful reduc- 
ing agent, and also possessed of other advantages that will be men- 
tioned and described later on. In this process of chrome tanning the 
hides or skins are first subjected, in the usual manner, to bichromate 
of potash or of soda, dissolved in water to which an acid, such as 
hydrochloric acid, is added. The first bath of the process is usually 
made up, for each one hundred pounds of skins, of about five pounds 
of bichromate of potash or of soda, and two and one-half pounds of 
hydrochloric acid of 21 degrees B^. , or an equivalent amount of sul- 
phuric acid, the quantity of water used being sufficient to properly 
cover the stock. The hides or skins are treated to this liquor until 
they are thoroughly impregnated with the chrome compound, and are 
then removed, pressed or struck out, to remove surplus liquor, and are 
ready for the second or reducing bath. 



554 APPENDIX. 

The difference between this process of tanning and the regular 
chrome process, is in the manner of reducing the chromic acid in the 
skins to chromic oxide in the second bath. This second bath usually 
consists of hyposulphite of soda, muriatic acid and water. The action 
of the acid upon the hyposulphite of soda is to cause the generation of 
sulphurous acid and sulphur. The active agent in this bath is the 
sulphurous acid which quickly penetrates the hides or skins, while sul- 
phur is also deposited in the fibers of the grain and flesh sides. The 
sulphurous acid is very corrosive, and together with the sulphur clings 
most tenaciously to the leather, so that after the tanning is completed 
the latter requires a very thorough washing to rid it of these objection- 
able materials, which, left in the stock, cause serious damage to it. 
The use of the ordinary reducing bath of sulphurous acid has therefore 
some very unpleasant features. It is the object of this improvement 
to overcome the unpleasant features by causing a continuous liberation 
of nascent hydrogen in the bath, the effects of which are to convert the 
sulphurous acid into hyposulphurous acid. This result is accomplished 
by the employment of metallic zinc in the bath. This is very simply 
and economically achieved by placing a number of pieces of zinc in the 
paddle or reel containing the bath, they being sufficiently large and 
heavy to remain at the bottom of the reel. The action of the acid 
bath is to liberate nascent hydrogen from the metallic zinc. Other 
methods of accomplishing the objects of this process may be employed. 

For the treatment of one thousand pounds of skins, the inventor 
recommends a bath of one hundred and twenty-five pounds of hypo- 
sulphite of soda and fifty pounds of muriatic acid in six hundred and 
fifty gallons of water, and to this bath are added sixty pounds of metal- 
lic zinc. The zinc should be allowed to remain when the liquor is 
drawn off after the bath is exhausted and a new bath is prepared, and 
about five pounds of it should be added once a week. Instead of 
pieces of zinc being used in the liquor, the vat or reel may be lined 
with sheet zinc and thus a large surface be exposed to the action of the 
acid liquor. In place of hyposulphite of soda and acid, a solution of 
bisulphite of soda is sometimes used to accomplish the work of the 
second bath. When this material is employed, no muriatic acid is 
required, as the bisulphite of soda is charged with sulphurous acid gas. 
The quantity of this material used may be the same as of hyposulphite 
of soda, and the metallic zinc may be employed in a bath prepared in 
this way in the same manner as has been described. No sulphur is 
evolved in such a solution, but the nascent hydrogen is none the less 
an advantage, as it lessens the quantity of bisulphite of soda that is 
required by changing the sulphurous acid into hyposulphurous acid. 
It is customary, after the skins are taken from the first chrome bath 
and pressed or struck out, to dip each one singly into a dilute solution 
of hyposulphite of soda and muriatic acid, this treatment being for the 
purpose of accomplishing a slight surface reduction, and thus bringing 
the stock into the best condition for the reducing bath. A vessel lined 



APPENDIX. 5 55 

with zinc may be advantageously used to contain the Uquor into which 
the skins are dipped, or pieces of zinc may be added to the solution, 
as the nascent hydrogen which will thus be developed will increase the 
efficacy of the solution. Less hyposulphite of soda will be required 
and less sulphur will be developed. 

The advantages of this method of tanning are that a comparatively 
small amount of sulphur is liberated, and little or no sulphurous acid 
brought into contact with the skins or hides, so that when the latter are 
taken from the reducing bath, very little washing is necessary to per- 
fectly cleanse them and make them quite neutral and in good condition 
for the subsequent finishing operations. In this way material econo- 
mies of time, labor and apparatus are gained. By this method of 
evolving hyposulphurous acid in the bath, which is a more powerful 
reducing agent than sulphurous acid, less hyposulphite of soda is re- 
quired than in the acid process. The quantity of hyposulphite of soda 
used may be reduced one-half, that is to say, where twenty per cent, 
of the weight of the skins of hyposulphite of soda have been used, and 
five per cent, of muriatic acid, ten per cent, of hyposulphite of soda 
and five per cent, of muriatic acid will suffice in this method of tan- 
ning. On a large scale this means a considerable saving. 

Patented by W. M. Norris, Princeton, N. J. 

TANNING WITH CHROMIUM CHLORIDE AND CHROMIUM HYPOSULPHITE. 

The following description relates to a method of tanning in a single 
operation, such process constituting what is known to the trade as a one- 
bath chrome process. The tanning compound used consists of the 
ingredients hereinafter named in about the proportions stated : Bichro- 
mate of potash, one pound; hydrochloric acid, two pounds and four 
ounces to three pounds ; hyposulphite of soda, two pounds and eight 
ounces to three pounds ; water, one gallon. 

The hydrochloric acid used is of the usual commercial strength, about 
2 1 degrees Bd. The hyposulphite of soda is in a crystalline state, and 
if it is dissolved before being added to the other ingredients the quan- 
tity of water used for such solution should be deducted from the amount 
stated above. The solution made according to the above formula con- 
stitutes the stock solution. 

To make a tanning bath of the proper strength, one gallon of the 
stock solution is diluted with about five gallons of water. 

The reaction of the ingredients used in this tanning liquor produces 
chromium chloride and chromium hyposulphite, the latter, however, 
being present in comparatively small proportion. The changing of the 
skins into leather is the result of the combined action of these two tan- 
ning agents upon them, such action, the inventor claims, yielding a 
better leather than hitherto produced by other chrome processes. The 
process is mainly intended for use in the tanning of calfskins. When 
tanning stock of a fine or delicate quality, such as is used for making 



55^ APPENDIX. 

glove leather, it is preferable to reduce the strength of the hydrochloric 
acid by adding to it eight ounces of water, in which one ounce of bicar- 
bonate of soda has been dissolved, or by dissolving one ounce of 
bicarbonate of soda in eight ounces of water and adding this to one 
gallon of the stock solution, which may afterward be diluted by the 
addition of five gallons of water to form the tanning liquor. 
This process is patented by A. J. Pilar. 

TANNING WITH CHROMIC SALT. 

In this process of chrome-tanning the hides or skins, after being pre- 
pared in the usual manner for tanning, are impregnated with a solution 
of chromic acid or chromic acid compounds in a vat containing the 
solution and then placed in a second vat, where they are subjected to 
the action of a solution of a chromic salt, sometimes termed " chromic- 
oxide salt," preferably chromic chloride, either neutral or basic, which 
gradually replaces the chromic acid or chromic compound in the hide 
or skin, and, being rendered insoluble in or upon the fiber, produces a 
superior quality of leather. 

The chromic acid which is displaced slowly diffuses into the sur- 
rounding bath liquor. The solution of chromic salt, which may be 
hereinafter referred to as " chromic chloride," is contaminated by the 
chromic acid diffused from the skin, and this contamination would pre- 
sent an obstacle for the carrying on of this process on a commercial 
scale, owing to the excessively large quantity of chromic chloride which 
would be required to effect the tanning, if provision were not made to 
neutralize or offset the contamination of the chromic chloride solution 
by the diffused chromic acid, so that the tanning could be effected in 
a substantially small apparatus and with a small quantity or volume of 
chromic chloride. This result is effected by renewing or practically 
purifying the contaminated tanning solution, which is accomplished in 
a separate chamber or vessel connected with the tanning vat, so that 
the contaminated solution may be caused to pass through the purifying 
or converting chamber or vessel and then back again into the tanning 
vat, the said contaminated solution on its passage through the purify- 
ing chamber being freed from the contaminating chromic acid and re- 
stored to its original or normal chromic condition. This renewed 
chromic solution on its admission into the tanning vat becomes again 
active in tanning the skins. The chromic acid which contaminates the 
chromic solution may be disposed of by the action of any well-known 
reducing agent, but preferably by exposing it to the action of any ox- 
idizable metal, such as zinc. To insure rapid action, the zinc is used 
in a fine state of division and in the presence of more or less acid, such 
as hydrochloric acid, or it is made strongly electropositive by contact 
with gas carbon or copper, or by means of an outside source of electric- 
ity. The zinc is preferably located in the purifying chamber or vessel. 
The inventor prefers that the zinc or oxidizable metal in the purifying 



APPENDIX. 5 5 7 

chamber should be connected with pieces of electronegative metal. 
The use of gas carbon is preferred in contact with granulated zinc or 
with grids or bars of the latter metal to insure a prompt and energetic 
action on the contaminated chromic solution. The zinc in the purify- 
ing chamber may be kept active or in an energetic condition by means 
of a free acid, preferably hydrochloric, which is supplied to the chamber 
in such small quantities as will permit it to be practically exhausted by 
combining with the zinc before it passes, with the renewed chromic so- 
lution, from the purifying chamber into the tanning vat containing the 
skins. The chloride of zinc incidentally produced in the purifying 
vessel, and which may be carried over into the tanning vat, does not 
appear to have any injurious effect upon the skins. 

Tanning is done in a vat having connected to it near its bottom the 
inlet pipe of a pump, which may be of any suitable construction. This 
pump has its outlet pipe extended over the upper end of a vat, chamber 
or vessel provided with a perforated false bottom , upon which is placed 
a layer of zinc and preferably a layer of gas carbon, or a bed composed 
of a mixture of these materials. The vessel at its upper end is pro- 
vided with a sieve or strainer of any suitable construction, and upon 
which the liquid from the outlet pipe for the pump is discharged. The 
vessel constitutes the purifying chamber, and is provided with an outlet 
pipe connected to it below the false bottom and extended upwards pre- 
ferably above the level of the layers of zinc and gas carbon , and termi- 
nates above the top of the tanning vat, so that the liquid passing 
through the chamber may flow back into the tanning vat. The vat 
should be provided with an agitator or paddle wheel by which the skins 
may be kept in motion. The purifying chamber is adapted to being 
supplied with free hydrochloric acid from a supply tank or vessel, pro- 
vided with a discharge pipe, having a cock or valve by which the supply 
of free acid to the chamber may be controlled. 

In the operation of the apparatus the hides or skins to be treated, 
after being first impregnated with a solution of chromic acid or its 
compound, as now commonly practiced (and which solution may be 
composed of about five per cent, of bichromate of potash to the weight 
of the skins, and from two to three per cent, of thirty- five per cent, 
hydrochloric acid) , are removed from the chromic acid bath and placed 
in the chromic chloride solution contained in the tan vat, when an 
examination of the thicker parts of them in the chromic acid bath 
shows thorough penetration of the chromic acid solution. The chromic 
solution may be made by dissolving commercial soluble chrome green 
or hydrated oxide of chromium in a minimum amount of hydrochloric 
acid, and making up the bath by an addition of water to a strength of 
about a four per cent, solution of chromic chloride, or the bath may be 
made by passing a solution of bichromate of potash, to which hydro- 
chloric acid has been added, through the vessel or container and dilut- 
ing the bath to an extent to form about a four per cent, solution of 
chromic chloride in the vat. Common salt is preferably added to the 



558 APPENDIX. 

solution in the vat in about the proportion of two parts salt to one part 
of chromium chloride to prevent the drawing of the grain and to facili- 
tate diffusion. 

The skins saturated with the solution of chromic acid are kept in 
motion in the tanning vat by the paddle, and while in the vat the 
chromic acid contained in them diffuses into and contaminates the 
chromic chloride solution and imparts to the originally green chromic 
solution in the vat a yellowish- green tint. The solution thus contami- 
nated is carried by the pump to the purifying chamber or vessel and 
is discharged from the pipe upon the sieve, which serves to prevent the 
passage of foreign bodies, such as loose animal fiber, hair, etc., and 
their coming into contact with the layers of gas carbon and zinc, 
through which the yellowish-green contaminated tanning solution per- 
colates or passes and becomes freed from the contaminating chromic 
acid , and is converted into a purified chromic solution having nearly or 
quite an emerald-green color. This purified chromic chloride solution 
passes through the pipe back into the tanning vat, where it again be- 
comes energetic and acts upon the fibers and is distributed with great 
uniformity through the skins, replacing the chromic acid, which gradu- 
ally diffuses out of them. This cycle of operations is continued until 
the skins have been properly tanned, and during the operation their 
color passes from yellow to yellowish-green, then to sage-green, and 
finally to blue. When the thicker parts are colored blue throughout, 
and pieces cut from them resist the action of boiling water without 
strong contraction, the tanning is completed. 

By this process the chromic compound is uniformly distributed 
throughout the thickness of the skins, the grain is very perfectly" pre- 
served, and strong and supple leather produced. The time required 
for tanning depends upon the thickness of the stock, the strength of 
the tanning solution and the activity of the purifier. Goatskins can be 
tanned in twenty -four hours. The tanning bath may be used for a long 
time, and many batches of stock can be tanned in the same solution. 
It may be strengthened occasionally in case the chromic acid which 
diffuses from the skins is, when converted in the purifier, insufficient in 
quantity to replace the chromic compound absorbed by them , and so 
also a portion of the contaminated solution in the vat may from time 
to time be removed, so as to decrease the amount of zinc chloride and 
other substances which may collect in the solution. Furthermore, it is 
not necessary that the circulation be maintained through the purifier 
throughout the period of tanning, for if after running the pump and 
paddle twelve hours or less, the yellow color has disappeared from the 
stock and from the tanning solutiont, he skins will continue to tan while 
the machinery is at rest. 

In order that the process may be clearly comprehended, one set of 
proportions of ingredients used is set forth as follows : One hundred 
and fifty pounds of bichromate of potash, one hundred and fifty pounds 
of common salt, and six hundred gallons of water are placed in the 



APPENDIX. 559 

tanning vat. In the purifier are placed two hundred pounds of granu- 
lated zinc and six hundred pounds of comminuted retort carbon, and 
in the acid container above the purifier seven hundred and fifty pounds 
of 35 per cent, hydrochloric acid. The pump is then started and the 
circulation of the liquor in the vat established through the purifier, and 
at the same time the valve at the bottom of the acid container is 
opened to supply the acid to the purifier in a slow stream. When the 
solution in the tan vat has lost its reddish color and has become emer- 
ald green, the chloride solution is in proper condition for the reception 
of the skins, which to the weight of fourteen hundred pounds can be 
floated in the above bath. During the process of tanning additional 
hydrochloric acid is supplied to the acid container and permitted to 
run slowly into the purifier. 

This process of chrome tanning was invented and patented by Henry 
Carmichael. 

TANNING WITH A CUPROUS SALT. 

This method of tanning is a process for the making of chrome 
leather and consists of subjecting the hides or skins to a liquor containing 
a chrome salt, and then treating them with a solution containing a cup- 
rous salt. One hundred pounds of hides or skins are prepared for the 
process in the usual way. Then they are immersed in a solution of five 
pounds of bichromate of potash and two pounds of salt, which are dis- 
solved in five gallons of water, to which two and a half pounds of 
hydrochloric acid are added. They remain in this solution until they 
are thoroughly penetrated with the liquor, which usually takes from 
three to five hours, but in the case of thin skins less than three hours 
are required. Either drums or paddle vats may be used, the same as 
for any process of chrome tanning. The surplus liquor is then re- 
moved by pressure or by striking out on a machine. The second bath 
of this process differs from all other two-bath processes by reason of its 
being made up of sulphate of copper, salt and alum. For every two 
liundred pounds of hides or skins to be treated, five and one -half 
pounds of sulphate of copper, thirty pounds of common salt, and six 
pounds of alum, dissolved in twenty-five gallons of water are used. 
This solution is run into a closed vat containing copper cuttings, and 
is left to stand upon them until the solution has become almost color- 
less, which indicates that the cupric salt is reduced to cuprous salt, 
which is kept in solution by the presence of the common salt. This 
solution is now ready for use, and the hides or skins are immersed 
therein. As soon as they are immersed in this solution their previous 
yellow color is rapidly changed into a greenish-blue color, as they con- 
tain chrome as well as copper, after which they are ready for further 
treatment. 

In preparing the copper solution, cupric chloride may be used in 
place of cupric sulphate ; also, in place of common salt, any other 
neutral substance which is known to be a solvent of cuprous chloride 



C60 APPENDIX. 

may be employed. The solution once used may from time to time be 
reinforced by the addition of such substances as have disappeared from 
it partly or wholly by being taken up by the stock. The solution may^ 
after being treated with metal copper, be again used for another quan- 
tity of hides or skins. The solution that cannot be used any more, 
may be freed from copper by running it into tanks containing scrap- 
iron, on which the copper is precipitated. 

In place of treating the skins first with a chrome solution, the cop- 
per solution can be first applied to them prepared for the process, after 
which they may be treated with the acidified bichromate of potash 
solution. 

Patented by H. Endemann, Brooklyn, N. Y. 

REDUCING WITH HYDROGEN DIOXIDE. 

When skins are saturated with a chromate such as bichromate of 
potash and an acid such as muriatic acid, and then submitted to the 
action of a reducing agent sufficiently strong and rapid in its action, 
chromic oxide is separated out through their bodies, and leather results. 
This is the principle of the two-bath chrome process. To accomplish 
the reduction of the chromic acid with which skins are impregnated 
when they come from the first bath, a number of agents have been pro- 
posed and used. 

In the foregoing processes, hyposulphite of soda in the presence of 
muriatic or sulphuric acid has been the reducing agent. Other reduc- 
ing agents that have been proposed are hydrogen sulphide, either as 
gas or evolved from a metallic sulphide in connection with an acid, 
such as ferrous sulphate, cuprous sulphate or chloride, oxalic acid of 
greater or less activity. A two- bath process in which the skins are 
saturated with bichromate of potash and muriatic acid , and the chromic 
acid in them reduced to chromic oxide by the use of hydrogen dioxide, 
is carried out in the following manner : The hides or skins are prepared 
for tanning in the usual way, that is, they are limed, unhaired, bated 
and washed, or pickled stock may be tanned in the pickled state. The 
first part of this process, as with all two-bath processes, consists of a 
liquor composed of bichromate of potash and muriatic acid in the pro- 
portions of five pounds of the former, and two and one-half pounds of 
muriatic acid of 21 degrees B6. for each hundred pounds of stock. 
This is applied to the hides or skins in a drum and the drumming con- 
tinued until the yellow liquor has penetrated every fiber of the thickest 
skin. The second part of the process consists of a dilute solution of 
hydrogen dioxide. In this bath the color of the stock is changed as 
the reduction proceeds, from yellow to greenish- blue, something of a 
slate color. For this method of reducing the chromic acid to chromic 
oxide, the claims are made that there is nothing foreign or injurious 
added to the stock during tanning to seriously affect the finished pro- 
duct. 



APPENDIX. 561 

This is an important advantage over all other reducing agents. 
There is no separated sulphur that requires prolonged washing out, as 
with the use of hyposulphite of soda and acid ; no sulphuric acid is 
formed by the oxidation of the reducing agent , and no oxides of iron or 
copper formed to affect the character of the leather. In this process 
the reduction is very rapid, much more so than when other agents are 
used, and the bichromate is changed in the hides before it can bleed or 
diffuse out, as sometimes takes place with reducing agents of slow 
power. It is not necessary to have the hydrogen dioxide ready prepared 
in solution, but the same results are obtained by the use of such per- 
oxides as will produce hydrogen dioxide with dilute acids, as barium 
peroxide, sodium peroxide and others of similar properties. The bath 
of hydrogen dioxide is kept slightly acid with muriatic or sulphuric acid, 
and the hydrogen dioxide or metallic peroxide for its generation is 
added in small successive portions , so the mutual decomposing action 
with the chromic acid in the skins goes on steadily, but without loss 
of oxygen from the decomposition of the dioxide in the bath. During 
this part of the process the hides or skins should be kept in motion, so 
that not only will they be uniformly exposed to the liquor, but will be 
freed from the oxygen gas which escapes from the surface in minute 
bubbles. A point of importance to be noticed in connection with the 
second bath is that no metallic surfaces be exposed to the action of 
the solution. Vats made only of wood should be used, as otherwise 
considerable hydrogen dioxide will be decomposed and lost without 
doing its work upon the stock. At first the yellow chromed skins turn 
a decided blue color in the reduction bath, but this does not affect the 
result, as it soon disappears when the green color of the reduction shows 
itself. The color gradually changes from yellow to greenish-blue, as is 
the case in all chrome processes of tanning. 

The reducing bath for this method of tanning may be prepared with 
sodium peroxide instead of hydrogen dioxide, as has been already sug- 
gested. In practice this is accomplished by heating one hundred gal- 
lons of water to ninety degrees Fahr. This water is acidified by the 
addition of five pounds and five ounces of sulphuric acid of a strength 
of sixty-six degrees Baum^. The acid should be well stirred throughout 
the water, and then are added, by being slowly sifted in, four pounds of 
sodium peroxide, the liquor being constantly stirred. When all the 
sodium peroxide has been added, the bichromated skins, after draining 
or pressing, are entered into the liquor and stirred about until the reduc- 
tion of the chromic acid is complete and they are tanned, which can be 
readily seen by the tanner. The skins may be paddled for an hour or 
two, then left still in the liquor over night and paddled again for a short 
time the next morning. The process may also be completed in less time 
than this, according to the necessity of hurry and thickness of the skins. 
Before coloring and drying out, the leather should be thoroughly washed. 

Patented by Samuel P. Sad tier, Philadelphia. 
36 



562 APPENDIX. 

REDUCING WITH SULPHATE OF IRON AND ACETIC ACID. 

Among the various processes used to accomplish the changing of the 
chromic acid in skins into chromic oxide is one by which the reduction 
is accomplished by the use of sulphate of iron in combination with 
acetic acid. In carrying out this process, the skins are prepared for 
tanning in the usual manner, and are then immersed or treated in a 
drum with a solution of chromic acid. This may be composed of bi- 
chromate of potash and muriatic acid in the regular way, or of chromic 
acid in powder form dissolved in water without the muriatic acid. 
Some acetic acid is added to the liquor. This liquor is composed of 
the usual proportions, and the skins are saturated with it until they are 
thoroughly impregnated with it, the length of time depending upon 
their thickness. When the chrome liquor has thoroughly penetrated 
the skins they are pressed or are drained until they are freed of the 
surplus liquor. Then they are ready for the reducing bath. This is a 
solution of sulphate of iron , in proportion of one part iron to nine parts 
of water, in which the skins must remain until the tannage is complete. 
After this they are washed and dried in the usual manner. With either 
or both of the solutions is combined acetic acid in the proportions of 
one part of acid to sixteen parts of solution. In place of acetic acid, 
any chemical equivalent may be employed. Instead of pure acetic 
acid, either vinegar or pyroligneous acid may be used. The propor- 
tions of ingredients employed in this method of tanning may be 
changed ; the order of solutions may also be reversed. In place of 
chromic acid or bichromate of potash in the first bath, other chrome 
salts may be used, as for example, bichromate of soda, also bichromate 
of ammonia. While the sulphate of iron is considered the best article 
to use in the second bath, other iron salts may.be substituted. 

The acetic acid may be in the pure form, or as contained in vinegar 
or pyroligneous acid. The employment of the acetic acid is very 
essential in getting a thoroughly and uniformly tanned leather. It may 
be used in connection with either of the alternative baths. When it is 
not used, and the skins are immersed simply in the chromic acid bath 
and then in the sulphate of iron liquor, to which no acetic acid has 
been added, the iron salts do not penetrate properly, and the result is 
a crusty deposit on the leather, and the grain is brittle and hard and 
the interior is also hard, owing to its being improperly tanned. When 
acetic acid is used, the penetration of both the chromic and iron salts 
is uniform throughout the skins, the leather is thoroughly tanned and 
finished up soft, tough and with a fine smooth grain. Pickled stock, 
such as pickled sheep, lamb and goat skins, also pickled hides may be 
tanned in this process in the pickled condition, no drenching being 
necessary, simply a drumming or soaking in salt water to soften and 
open them out. 

Patented hy S. Chadwick, Philadelphia, Pa. 



APPENDIX. 563 

ONE-BATH PROCESS OK CHROME TANNING. 

Owing to the many unpleasant features of two-bath tanning, and the 
difificulties and perplexities and failures met with by inexperienced 
tanners in using the two-bath liquors, without sufficient knowledge or 
experience, the one- bath processes of chrome tanning have become 
very popular. They deserve their popularity, by reason of the sim- 
plicity and ease with which leather can be made. There are several 
one-bath processes that have been introduced, all possessing some 
merit. The tanning material is sold to the tanner in concentrated 
form, all ready for use. In a general way these liquors are used in 
much the same manner as sumac, bark and gambler liquors. When 
they are applied in paddle vats the skins are entered into a weak liquor , 
and as they absorb the tanning material contained in it, the strength 
of the bath is increased until it becomes a fairly strong solution. Any 
tanner who has had experience with two-bath processes finds the one- 
bath method exceedingly simple, while those not familiar with chrome 
tanning, but experienced in bark or sumac tanning, ought to be able 
to readily understand the new process and to meet with little difficulty 
in making chrome leather by a one-bath process. While a great deal 
of the quality of the finished leather depends upon how the skins are 
tanned, much more depends upon how they are prepared for tanning, 
and how they are treated after they are tanned, during the processes 
of currying and finishing. One- bath liquors do not change character 
with age, and are not injured by frost or exposure. They are clean 
and free from smell and stain, and can be regulated by the tanner to 
tan slowly or quickly as he may desire. When applied in vats, the 
liquors can be used over and over for successive lots of skins, by being 
strengthened up, and great economy can thus be attained. In two- 
bath processes the skins are subjected to the action of corrosive mate- 
rials which often produce damage to the leather. 

This is all avoided when one-bath liquors are used, as they are 
neutral, or nearly so, and free from uncombined acids. The results 
that follow their use can be easily regulated , and are as a usual thing 
very uniform and reliable. The mere tanning with these concentrated 
liquors is a very simple and straightforward process, and little experi- 
ence is required, provided the skins or hides have been properly pre- 
pared in the beam-house. Thorough liming and bating or drenching 
is necessary in order that they may be soft and pliable to begin with. 
As chrome leather is usually finished upon the grain, the skins require 
to be handled in such a manner that the grain is left smooth and 
strong, and not allowed to become rough, coarse or weak. In order 
that they may be thoroughly tanned, and no thin strip of raw material 
left through the center, which would cause the leather to be hard and 
tinny when dried out, the tanner must use plenty of the tanning mate- 
rial. No harm can come to the skins when they are left in the liquor 
for a long time, as it is absolutely necessary that they are thoroughly 



564 APPENDIX. 

tanned, which can not be depended upon when they are rushed through 
the process in the shortest possible time. Some of the one-bath tan- 
nages are more astrmgent than others, and their effect upon the stock 
is to draw or contract the fibers. When this is liable to occur, com- 
mon salt should be added to the liquor in the same manner and for the 
same reason that it is used in conjunction with bark, sumac or gambier 
liquors, — to hasten the tanning, to keep the skins open and plump, and 
to prevent the contraction of the fibers. One-bath liquors are used 
successfully in drums, paddle vats or vats with rockers. They are 
applicable to hides and skins of all kinds, and for making every kind 
of leather from kid-glove leather to sole leather. The two-bath pro- 
cesses are sometimes preferred to the one-bath processes in the tanning 
of goatskins for glazed kid, as they seem to split up the fibers and to^ 
produce a finer grain than the single-bath liquors. Yet very good kid 
leather is made with one-bath processes, with one point in their favor,, 
that the leather so made is plumper than that produced by acid pro- 
cesses, which have no plumping nor filling properties whatever, but 
leave the skins thin and without plumpness. 

TANOLIN (the MARTIN DENNIS PROCESS). 

The best known of all one-bath chrome processes is the Dennis pro- 
cess, called Tanolin. This material is manufactured under patents and 
sold to tanners outright in barrels, no licenses being required, and no 
royalties asked for. The use of Tanolin is very general. It is especi- 
ally adapted to the making of soft, tough leather used in the manufac- 
ture of shoes and gloves. Its field of usefulness is not, however, re- 
stricted to those branches of the leather trade, but extends to heavy 
leather for harness, belts, and for any purpose where tough supple 
leather is required. It must prove interesting to practical tanners to 
know how this popular tanning material is made. The manufacture of 
the liquor is covered by patents. According to the patent specifica- 
tions, a solution of common chloride of chromium is first prepared. 
This may be done by dissolving the pigment known as chrome green, 
or the commercial chrome oxide, in commercial hydrochloric acid 
which has been diluted with an equal bulk of water, care being taken 
to use more chromic oxide than the acid will take up, in order that the 
resulting liquor may be as nearly neutral as possible. About eight 
ounces of the commercial acid are sufficient to dissolve a pound of 
commercial oxide of chromium. To this solution of chloride of chro- 
mium is next added slowly and carefully a solution of a more powerful 
base, and for this purpose carbonate of sodium, or as it is commonly 
called, sal soda, is preferred. This is added until rapid effervescence 
ceases. It usually takes about one-half pound of sal soda crystals to 
each pound of chrome oxide, dissolved as above. The liquor which 
results is a solution of basic chloride of chromium. It may be con- 
sidered as consisting of the normal chloride of chromium and chromic 
oxide in soluble combination, and a quantity of chloride of sodium or 



APPENDIX. 565 

salt formed by the union of a part of the acid, which was in combina- 
tion with the chromium, with the sodium base of the carbonate of 
sodium. This sodium chloride in the liquor serves the very useful pur- 
pose of preventing the drawing or contracting of the fibers of the hides 
or skins that would result were it not present in the solution. To the 
solution are also added a few pounds of common salt to still further 
counteract the astringent effects of the chrome liquor. In the two- 
bath processes of tanning, the chromic acid is presented to the skins in 
the liquor of the first bath, which usually consists of a solution of bi- 
chromate of potash and muriatic acid. The chromic acid in the skins 
is reduced to chromic oxide by the action of some reducing agent, such 
as sulphurous acid or sulphuretted hydrogen. Chromic acid is a very 
powerful oxidizing agent and does more or less injury to the hides or 
skins. It requires great care and caution to produce with these 
methods of tanning, leather that does not crack or break nor become 
hard and brittle after it is dried out. The principle of the Dennis pro- 
cess is to impregnate the hides or skins with the liquor in which the 
chromic oxide is held as an already reduced salt and not in combina- 
tion with acids. In practice, the prepared stock is treated to the tan- 
ning liquor in drums or paddle- vats ; and it is necessary that during the 
process it be frequently moved about in order that the action of the 
chromic salt may be uniformly distributed. The length of time con- 
sumed in making leather by this process varies according to the thick- 
ness of the hides or skins, and ranges from two hours up, depending 
also upon the method of tanning used, drum tanning being accom- 
plished in much less time than when paddle- vats are used. The tan- 
ning is accomplished in one bath ; thus considerable labor is saved. 
The skins are not exposed to the destructive action of chromic acid as 
in two-bath tanning, and this results in making the leather stronger and 
not so liable to become papery or weak after it is dried out. There 
are no offensive or suffocating smells evolved ; and there is no danger 
of allowing the skins to remain in the liquors longer than is really neces- 
sary to tan them. The neutrality of the tanning liquor is of great as- 
sistance in the currying and finishing of the leather after it is tanned. 
The hides or skins are prepared for this method of tanning in the man- 
ner employed for any tannage, of which softness and smoothness of 
grain are important qualities. When the stock is tanned and is re- 
moved from the tanning bath , there is usually left in the liquor con- 
siderable tanning material. This should not be thrown away, but the 
skins may be put in and they will readily absorb the tanning material 
from the liquor. A new liquor can then be made and strengthened 
from time to time. In this way not a drop of the tanning material 
need be wasted, and the cost of tanning kept at the lowest point. 
When heavy hides are being tanned, it is good practice to suspend 
them on rockers in the vats so that the liquor may be gently agitated. 
If they are split after tanning, it is better to scour them with brush and 
slicker, or else mill them in a drum, and then return them to the 



566 APPENDIX. 

liquor for at least twenty- four hours longer. Light skins, such as goat, 
sheep, calf and kangaroo, are preferably tanned in pin-mill drums, as 
less time is thus consumed than when vats are used. They are tanned 
in drums in two or three hours. The plumpness of the leather may be 
increased by first treating the skins to a bath of alum or of sulphate of 
alumina and salt previous to the tanning in the chrome liquor. Fairly 
soft water should always be used in making up the tanning bath. Hard 
water contains lime and magnesia, and these cause the tanning material 
to be precipitated from the solution and render it unfit for use. When 
a quantity of the liquor is used in vats for different packs of skins, it is 
advantageous to correct the liquor by adding to it slowly and carefully 
a solution of sal soda, one pound of sal soda to three gallons of water. 
This soda solution should be added until the tan liquor appears cloudy , 
and its effect is to render the tan liquor so sensitive that it will yield to 
the skins the whole of the tanning material. Tanolin is made and sold, 
in both liquid and crystal form, by the Martin Dennis Chrome Tannage 
Co., Newark, N. J. 

PROCESS OF ALUM AND CHROME TANNING, 

The following process of chrome tanning produces leather that pos- 
sesses the good qualities of both alum and chrome leather. In appear- 
ance, plumpness, fine grain, softness and feel it resembles the former, 
and in softness , and -because of its insoluble nature , it resembles the lat- 
ter class of leather. The process consists of three consecutive steps or 
stages. The first step consists of tawing the skins in a solution of sul- 
phate of alumina and salt. In the second step the sulphate of alumina 
is fixed upon the fibers of the skins by means of a solution of hyposul- 
phite of soda, and after this has been accomplished another solution of 
sulphate of alumina and salt is given to the skins, by means of which 
they are plumped, and the thinness that follows the use of hyposulphite 
of soda is overcome. When these things have been done they are 
thoroughly alum-tawed, and if desired they may be taken after the last 
treatment with alumina and salt and finished without further tanning. 

To complete the process and to chrome tan the skins, they are taken 
after the final application of alumina and salt and given the chrome 
liquor. In practice the process is carried out as follows : The skins, 
after drenching and washing, are drained and weighed. For every 
hundred pounds of stock a solution is prepared, consisting of three 
pounds of sulphate of alumina and six pounds of salt in three gallons of 
water, boiled and allowed to cool. In this solution they are drummed 
for twenty minutes. Then for each hundred pounds of skins in the 
drum ten pounds of hyposulphite of soda are dissolved in three gallons 
of water and this liquor is poured into the drum .and drumming con- 
tinued for fifteen minutes. To finish the first part of the process a 
third solution is prepared by dissolving in three gallons of water two 
pounds of sulphate of alumina and three pounds of salt. This is added 



APPENDIX. 567 

to the contents of the drum, and the skins again drummed for thirty 
minutes or longer, or until they have acquired the requisite degree of 
plumpness and fullness. They are then taken from the drum and 
washed lightly by being dipped in clear water, and are then thrown over 
horses and allowed to press and drain for some hours. The old liquor 
being drawn off from the drum, the skins are washed off in clear water 
to remove from them any excess of tawing materials, and are ready to 
receive the chrome liquor. This is used without the addition of water 
or acid of any kind. For the chrome tanning from three to six gallons 
of the concentrated chrome liquor are required, according to the weight 
of the skins, for each hundred pounds of them. The chrome liquor is 
prepared as follows : From five to six pounds of chrome alum are dis- 
solved in five gallons of water without the aid of heat. To the solution 
of chrome alum are added from two and one-half to three pounds of 
sodium sulphate and from twelve ounces to one pound of potassium or 
sodium acetate or its chemical equivalent. In a liquor thus prepared 
the skins are drummed for from thirty minutes to one hour, or until 
they have taken up all, or nearly all, of the liquor and show thorough 
penetration of the same. At this point they will be found to be chrome 
tanned and insoluble in boiling water. The leather may next be taken 
from the drum and washed and finished in any manner desired in either 
colors or black, glazed or dull. When thick, heavy skins are being 
tanned, the quantity of chrome liquor used may be increased to six or 
seven gallons for each hundred pounds of them. The sodium sulphate 
is the active agent in the solution, the sodium chloride or common salt 
being added to prevent merely the tightening or contracting of the 
fibers. The chloride may be omitted if the quantity of sulphate of 
sodium is increased by an amount equal to one-half the weight of the 
chloride, as given in the above formula. In this process no free acids 
whatever are used. The skins are first tawed with alum and later 
treated with chromic oxide presented as an already reduced salt. Free 
acid in the solution, added as an element, that is, other than as pro- 
duced by the decomposition of the chemicals employed in the presence 
of the skins, will retard, if not prevent, the reaction necessary to pro- 
duce leather. For this reason the skins must be entirely free from acid 
and perfectly neutral when the process is begun. Pickled stock, such 
as sheep and lamb skins, must be freed from the acid used as a pickle 
by being drenched in a sour bran and salt drench before they are 
treated. After the tanning is completed the skins must be allowed to 
lie in the liquor for some hours, or over night, and then either thrown 
over horses or laid out flat in piles for twenty-four hours in order to 
give the tanning material taken up by them time to thoroughly act upon 
the fibers. After this the leather is washed for twenty minutes in warm 
borax water, next in clear water for twenty minutes, and then shaved, 
colored and finished. This process is patented by Geo. W. Adler, 
Philadelphia, Pa. 



568 APPENDIX. 

ONE- BATH PROCESS. 

Another one-bath chrome process for which waterproof qualities are 
claimed is compounded in the following manner : Twelve pounds of 
chromic acid are dissolved in about six gallons of hydrochloric acid, 
the latter having a specific gravity of 1.146 and a hydrometer strength 
of 28.61. Fifty pounds of crystallized chrome alum are dissolved in 
about twenty gallons of water, without the aid of heat; and seventy- 
five pounds of crystallized carbonate of soda are dissolved in about ten 
gallons of water. These solutions being obtained, the solution of soda 
is added slowly to the chrome alum solution, the latter being constantly 
agitated by stirring. When the compound assumes a cloudy appear- 
ance, and a fine sparkling mist is seen rising to the top, the addition 
of the soda solution should be discontinued and sufficient water added 
to bring the volume up to forty-four gallons. The next step is to 
thoroughly mix this compound of chrome alum and soda with the dis- 
solved chromic acid before described, gently stirring the mixture while 
the mixing is going on. Then the combined mixture should be allowed 
to stand and settle for twenty-four hours. The water in which the 
tanning is to take place should be heated to eighty degrees Fahr., and 
to every one hundred gallons of water one and one-half gallons of the 
concentrated tanning liquor are added, thus making a one and one-half 
per cent, liquor. The strength of the bath needs to be gradually 
increased during the treatment of the hides by the regular addition of 
more chrome liquor, in one-half gallon quantities, until the bath has 
had from four to five gallons of the concentrated liquor added for every 
one hundred gallons of water. The heat and strength of the bath 
should be maintained during the operation, and the hides or skins con- 
stantly stirred about. An experienced tanner will have no trouble in 
telling when the stock is tanned, but a good rule is to watch it care- 
fully, and when the thickest part of the heaviest skin shows a deep 
greenish-blue appearance all through, the tanning is completed. When 
it has been seen that the hides or skins are sufficiently tanned, they are 
removed from the bath and washed in water to which borax has been 
added, in proportion of one ounce to twenty gallons of water. The 
time required to tan with this process varies considerably. Sheep-skins 
usually require about one hour, and goat-skins about one and one- half 
hours. Calf- skins are tanned in from two to four hours, and hides in 
about ten hours. Skins tanned by this process are adapted for a great 
variety of purposes, and especially where waterproof stock is desired, 
as they are not deteriorated in any way by the treatment, but are left 
strong and pliable and susceptible of taking a high polish. They may 
also be tanned in drums. It usually requires about three gallons of 
liquor, prepared as described, to tan one hundred pounds of skins, 
weighed after drenching. After tanning, they are treated during the 
finishing process in the same manner as any chrome- tanned stock. 
This process is patented by Joseph W. Smith, Girard, Ohio. 



APPENDIX. 569 

A NEW DEPILATORY. 

It is well known that sodium sulphide has great depilatory powers, 
but that hides depilated by it or by a composition which contains it as 
the preponderating ingredient become dry and brittle after a few 
months, lose strength rapidly and crack on the grain side, and that the 
hair removed from hides by treatment with this substance possesses 
little strength and is of no value. The use of depilatories consisting 
largely of sodium sulphide is therefore confined mainly to the treatment 
of sheep pelts and the removal of the wool therefrom. The process 
here described produces a depilatory composition which can be used in 
the form of a watery solution, in which the hides are immersed, 
and which operates quickly and effectively in loosening the hair 
without injuring either the skin or the hair. This improved com- 
position consists mainly of calcium sulfhydrate and barium hydrate, and 
contains barium hydrate in excess or as the preponderating ingredient. 
In preparing this improved composition in the preferred manner mix 
approximately, by weight, sodium sulphide, six parts; hydrate of cal- 
cium, eighteen parts; and commercial hydrate of barium, seventy-six 
parts. This composition is dissolved in warm water in the proportion 
of about four pounds of it to ninety-six pounds of warm water. The 
sodium sulphide combines in the solution with the hydrate of calcium, 
forming calcium sulfhydrate, so that the solution contains calcium sulf- 
hydrate and hydrate of barium in excess. The calcium sulfhydrate is 
preferably produced as above described and by the use of sodium sul- 
phide. The hides or skins are immersed in the solution, and within a 
comparatively short period of time, usually about twenty- four hours, the 
hair becomes quite loose, so that it can be easily removed upon the 
beam without injury to skin or hair. 

The composition contains barium hydrate in excess or as the pre- 
ponderating ingredient, and does not dissolve or remove any part of 
the gelatinous tissue , grain or substance of the hide or dissolve the hair 
bulbs as sodium sulphide does, but acts mainly by expanding the skin, 
thereby loosening the hair bulbs so that the hair can be readily removed 
•on the beam. The hide retains its natural suppleness, although increas- 
ing somewhat in weight, and the hair retains its natural strength even 
if the hide is allowed to remain immersed in the solution longer than is 
necessary to loosen the hair. The hides require no bating or liming 
after treatment with the solution, and are placed in a very receptive 
condition for the tanning material. The proportion of sodium sulphide 
in the composition is so small that this material does not act to any 
extent as a depilatory , but mainly to freshen and restore the grain and 
give the skin plumpness. John Campbell and William A. Rushworth, 
of Chicago, assignors to Schoellkopf, Hartford & Hanna Co., of Buf- 
falo, have patented this composition. 



570 APPENDIX. 

DEPILATING WITH SULPHIDE OF SODIUM AND CHALK. 

A mixture of sulphide of sodium and chalk or whiting has been pro- 
posed for use in unhairing skins and preparing them for tanning. The 
process may consist of sulphide of sodium, three parts by weight; 
chalk or whiting, one part; and water in quantity of eight gallons, 
more or less. The sulphide of sodium, in quantity about three ordinary 
bucketfuls, is first dissolved in water to obtain a solution of a strength 
varying from two to six degrees, Baum^ test, the strength varying 
according to the nature of the hides or skins being treated. The 
demulcent, chalk or whiting is mixed with water, in quantity about 
eight gallons to one bucketful of chalk. This mixture is then added 
to the previously-prepared sodium sulphide solution. The solution 
with the demulcent in suspension is then introduced into an open vat 
or vessel provided with means for agitating the same , as for instance a 
paddle vat. 

The hides or skins are introduced into the solution, which is thor- 
oughly agitated for two or three hours. They are permitted to remain 
at rest in the solution for a comparatively long period, say ten to twelve 
hours, when the solution is again agitated. During the second agita- 
tion the solution is gradually diluted by the addition of fresh water 
until it contains no matter in solution or suspension, but is substantially 
free from the same. 

By mixing with the sulphide of sodium a demulcent such as chalk or 
whiting, a liquid compound is provided, by the use of which the caustic 
nature of the sulphide is diminished and made far less energetic in its 
action upon the raw hides or skins. By reason of its mild chemical 
action, the liquor readily softens the gristle, swells the fiber, as well as 
effects speedy dissolution of such animal matter as it is desirable to 
remove. Skins treated according to this process are said to be ready 
for tanning without further manipulation or treatment, and when 
tanned have fine, smooth grain and firm, plump and mellow feel. 
Patented by H. Holmes, Philadelphia, Pa. 

PROCESS OF DEPILATING IN DRUMS. 

This process consists in preparing skins for tanning into leather by 
means of sulphide of sodium and revolving drums. As will be seen by 
reading the description , it is a practical method of treating stock and 
preparing it for leather. By this method of treatment, which is simple, 
rapid and comparatively inexpensive, the skins of goats and kangaroos, 
and those of sheep from which the wool has been pulled, pelts and 
other skins and hides in the hair or raw condition, may be prepared for 
and delivered to the tanner in a few hours after the process has been 
commenced. In carrying out the process, a hot solution of sulphide 
of sodium is prepared. For example, twenty-five pounds of sulphide 
of sodium are placed in a tank or other suitable vessel and water intro- 
duced at a temperature of one hundred degrees Fahr. The resulting 



APPENDIX. 571 

hot solution of sulphide of sodium is put into a drum that may be 
closely sealed and rotated and more water added, say twenty ordinary 
pailfuls or forty to fifty gallons. Into this solution in the drum the 
hides or skins, just as they come from the soaking process, or in the 
case of sheep-skins after the wool has been removed, are placed. The 
proportions of sulphide of sodium and water mentioned are enough for 
twenty dozen skins. This number is placed in a drum with the solu- 
tion of sulphide of sodium , and after the drum is securely closed drum- 
med therein for two hours. The drum, still closed, may now be per- 
mitted to remain at rest for ten or twelve hours, or over night. During 
this time the stock is excluded from the air and exposed to the solu- 
tion of sulphide of sodium and to such fumes as arise therefrom. At 
the end of the stated time the drum is opened and the skins are washed 
with water, after which they are in condition for the tanner to receive 
and to tan them by any method of tanning. The stock treated in this 
manner will be found to be of close firm body, plump and with a fine 
smooth grain. In some tannages it does not tan so readily as skins 
prepared in the regular manner, but this can be overcome by the use 
of strong tanning liquors. The caustic nature of the sulphide of 
sodium has a more energetic effect upon some goods than upon others. 
Calf-skins are readily drawn or contracted upon the grain when they 
are treated to strong solutions of sulphide of sodium. A small quantity 
of lime mixed with the sulphide liquor assists in getting a smooth fine 
grain, and to overcome to some extent its drawing tendency. When 
this method of preparing skins is used the hair is lost, but this loss of 
hair is made up by the firm solid leather that results. When a soft 
leather is wanted, the treatment with sulphide of sodium must be fol- 
lowed with a short liming. 

This is the Pierson and Moor patented process. 

DEPILATING WITH CAUSTIC SODA AND CALCIUM CHLORIDE. 

The following process for preparing hides and skins for tanning was 
invented and patented by the Messrs. John and Edward Pullman, of 
London, England. It is based upon the use of solutions of caustic 
soda and calcium chloride, in place of lime, and is intended to do away 
with the old liming process. It consists of two baths. In the first bath 
the hides or skins are saturated with caustic soda. This is acted upon 
by the calcium chloride of the second bath, and the union of the two 
chemicals forms calcium hydrate or lime and salt in the interior of the 
hides or skins. The time of preparing the stock is greatly shortened, 
it being possible to accomplish in four hours what by the old method 
required ten days. More exact liming is obtained because definite 
weights of raw stock may be acted upon by previously-determined 
quantities of caustic soda and calcium chloride. The salts formed in 
the skins are very soluble and readily removed ; and as a consequence 
less bating and drenching are required than in the older method of 



-^^2 APPENDIX. 

liming. The process may be reversed by first using the bath of cal- 
cium chloride and then applying to the skins saturated with the same, 
the caustic soda solution. 

The goods to be treated by this process must first be soaked in a 
putrid or foul soak. The object of this is to introduce a sort of bac- 
terial action necessary to loosen the hair. After the skins or hides be- 
come thoroughly softened in the soak water, they are placed in a drum 
with a solution of caustic soda, from one to one and one -fourth per 
cent, of the soda being used. In this solution the stock is treated in 
the drum for three hours, more or less, according to thickness, and 
then taken from the drum and allowed to drain for some time , after 
which it is replaced in the drum with a one and a half per cent, solu- 
tion of calcium chloride, in which it is drummed for from one-half to 
one hour. 

When vats are used, more time is consumed than when drums are 
employed. The first bath usually requires forty-eight hours, and the 
hides or skins are handled two or three times. In the second bath they 
remain a similar length of time and are also handled once or twice. 
The unhairing is done in the usual way. The addition of a small 
quantity of sulphide of sodium to the caustic soda solution causes 
quicker loosening of the hair. In the case of skins upon which the 
lime or caustic alkali in solution possesses a deleterious action, they 
may be submitted to the action of a sufficiently strong solution of the 
calcium chloride until they are saturated with it, and may then be 
painted upon the flesh side with the caustic solution, so that by pene- 
tration a perfect and intimate liming results without contact with or in- 
jury to the fur, hair or wool. This method is necessary in preparing 
sheep pelts for pulling. When this form of treatment is employed, the 
strength of the calcium chloride may be about two per cent, and the 
strength of the caustic soda solution from three- fourths to one per cent. 

LIMING PROCESS. 

In this process the procedure is as follows : First, the skins are placed 
in cold water for a period of ninety-six hours, more or less, to draw 
out the blood and salt ; next they are brought into lime water at about 
55 degrees Fahr., the temperature being gradually raised to 80 
degrees. In this heated solution they are agitated for twelve hours. 
The temperature is now reduced very gradually until the solution grows 
quite cold, the stock being permitted to remain in soak for about four 
days longer. Third , the skins are now unhaired and fleshed ; fourth , they 
are placed into cold clean water, where they are thoroughly washed and 
worked to remove all the lime and other impurities ; fifth, they are placed 
on the working beam and finally cleaned and prepared for the tanning 
liquor, and, sixth, they are brought into tan hquor of from 35 degrees 
to 60 degrees barkometer, in which they remain until tanned. 

The skins may be agitated, washed and scrubbed by machinery at 



APPENDIX. 573 

various stages in the process, and hot water may be employed to assist 
in the removal of impurities. 

It is claimed that the time required with this process to tan sole or 
heavy leather is from twenty-one to thirty days, the time varying in 
accordance with the hide to be tanned, while a calfskin may be per- 
fectly tanned in from ten to fifteen days. This time may, however, be 
materially reduced. 

In the second step of the process all traces of the glue, oil and other 
impurities are removed. The importance of this step is evident, as 
the hide is prepared more effectually for subjection to the tanning 
agent and renders it more capable of receiving a larger quantity of 
grease, the resulting leather being plump and pliable, of finer texture 
and appearance and of increased durability. The inventor of this pro- 
cess claims that time , labor and expense are reduced ; the hides are 
prepared to carry more grease than usual, and they do not become 
hard and brittle but more pliable and durable and of better grain, 
finish and appearance than leather produced under older processes.. 
It is said that the best results are obtained by using tanning liquor of 
high degree. The temperature of the lime solution may be increased 
to some extent, depending on the hides under treatment, but in all 
cases the reduction of the temperature should be gradual and extend 
over a comparatively long period. Patented by Chas. Burkhalter. 

DEPILATING WITH LIME AND COPPERAS. 

This process is for the purpose of removing hair and grease from 
hides and skins preparatory to the tanning process and, it is claimed, 
for improving the quality of the leather to be made. 

Mix together in a vessel about eight gallons of water with twenty 
pounds of lime so that the lime is thoroughly slaked and, as far as pos- 
sible dissolved. For this purpose use so-called wood-burned lime. In 
another vessel dissolve ten ounces of sulphate of iron (copperas) in 
two gallons of water, and add the solution to the lime solution , mixing 
the same thoroughly together. Next add twenty-five gallons of cold 
water. 

Into the mixture thus prepared and as soon thereafter as possible, 
place the hides and allow them to remain for a period of time varying 
from twenty-four hours to sixteen days. They are then removed and 
are unhaired in the usual way. The variation in the period of time re- 
quired for treating them in the liquid as described depends upon many 
factors, the shorter time usually being required when the liquid is 
freshly prepared. 

Preparatory to placing the hides in the liquid they are soaked and 
milled in the usual way. After treatment by this process they are 
washed thoroughly. This washing does not take from them any of the 
valuable material usually lost in washing, so that nothing but dirt is re- 
moved. 



574 APPENDIX. 

Hides treated in the manner described, it is claimed, make plumper 
leather and the latter does not "pipe " with the grain, and its quality 
is much better than usual, its weight being conserved in a legitimate 
way, by saving within the fibers certain materials that would otherwise 
be removed by washing. 

Patented by William J. Ward. 

IMPROVED PROCESS OF BEAMHOUSE WORK. 

This improved method of beamhouse work is being used by some of 
the largest and most prominent manufacturers of glazed kid and other 
goatskin leathers. Briefly stated, the process consists in first painting 
the skins with a thin paste of lime and arsenic and unhairing them after 
twenty- four hours. They are then treated in a drum with a solution of 
sulphide of sodium for about twenty-four hours. Without washing, they 
are next placed in a reel and subjected to the action of a solution of 
hyposulphite of soda for about twenty -four hours. After this treatment 
they are placed in a vat containing lime, a little arsenic and water, 
where they remain two to five days, more or less, after which they are 
washed, pured, bated, drenched or otherwise treated as may be neces- 
sary to prepare them for tanning. 

The well-known advantages of sulphide of sodium are secured without 
any of its undesirable features. Sulphide of sodium swells the skins to 
their fullest extent, the fibers being differentiated into finer fibrils and 
the skins thoroughly opened up, and the natural fat converted into a 
soluble soap, which can be subsequently washed out, and other non- 
tannable matters removed or so acted upon that they are washed or 
worked out of the stock by subsequent operations. By following the 
sulphide treatment with hyposulphite of soda the sulphide is disinte- 
grated, its action upon the stock is arrested and injurious results are 
prevented. And by the final lime and arsenic treatment the skins are 
so prepared that they can be readily bated in the usual manner. 

This is a much safer process than the one in common use. No old 
limes, swarming with unknown and dangerous bacteria, are employed. 
It will therefore be found much more satisfactory, especially in summer 
weather. The process, taking only about one-half the usual time, 
requires that only half the amount of stock be in the beamhouse in 
perishable condition. In case of any interruption to the regular work 
of the factory this is a great advantage, to say nothing of the time 
saved. The by-products from stock treated by this process are of equal 
value to the hair and glue pieces from skins unhaired in the usual way. 

The patents covering this process are owned by the International 
Sulphide Process Company, Camden, N. J. 

PROCESS OF LIMING FURS. 

The objects of this process are, first, thoroughly to lime furs, hair 
skins, skins, hides and pelts; second, to reduce largely the time occu- 



APPENDIX. 575 

pied in the process of liming, it being possible to perform it in four 
hours , whereas ten days have been generally necessary ; third , by 
operating with known weights of skins, definite temperature, strength 
of the solutions used , and time to produce an exact liming result ; 
fourth, to regulate the amount of salts remaining in the limed skin, for 
example, calcium carbonate, the unregulated presence of which for the 
purpose of tanning is undesirable. By this process a hide or skin can 
be limed and, in the result, be practically free from this salt, while on 
the other hand, for certain classes of stock this salt is essential for the 
production of good leather ; the desired amount can also be deposited 
intimately combined with the fiber, while by the process heretofore 
used this regulation of the amounts of insoluble calcium salts remaining 
in the fiber, is to almost any degree impossible. Fifth, to prevent 
waste, as the quantity of lime used in the ordinary method is very con- 
siderably in excess of that required, owing chiefly to the action of the 
carbonic acid gas of the atmosphere converting the soluble hydrated 
oxide of calcium into the carbonate of calcium; sixth, saving in the 
processes of bating and puring, because the sodium or other salts used 
in this process being soluble the greater portion of them can be readily 
washed away , and consequently a very much smaller quantity of bate 
is required, and, seventh, a reduction in cost, since there is little or no 
waste and the salts are recoverable. 

The method consists, essentially, in chemically producing calcium 
hydrate or calcium carbonate in the substance of the skin itself. In- 
stead of treating the stock with these materials externally applied, raw 
or partially limed furs, hair skins, hides and pelts are acted upon by a 
weak alkaline solution, caustic soda or caustic potash or the carbonates 
of such metals, or a mixture of both in any proportion, according to 
the ultimate degree of liming required, and the subsequent transposition 
of this is then effected by a solution of chloride of calcium or other 
salts of calcium so that calcium hydrate or calcium carbonate is pro- 
duced, and retained and fixed in, and in combination with, the sub- 
stance of the skin, the remaining soluble alkaline salts being removed by 
washing. 

The process may obviously be reversed, that is to say, the solution 
of a calcium salt being used first and the caustic or alkaline solutions 
afterward. 

In the case of furs or hair skins, upon which the lime or caustic 
alkali in solution possesses a deleterious action, submit them first to the 
action of a sufficiently strong solution of the calcium salts until they are 
saturated with it, and then paint the caustic or alkaline solution upon 
the flesh sides , so that by permeation a perfect and intimate liming results 
without contact with or injury to the fur or hair. These may be 
dressed in any desired manner. In proceeding according to this modi- 
fication if calcium chloride and caustic soda were used, the strength of 
the former wou Idbe about two per cent, of calcium chloride and of the 
latter from three-fourths to one per cent, of caustic soda. 



576 APPENDIX. 

The quantity of lime deposited in the skins by the method above 
described may be accurately determined and regulated by variations in 
the strength of the solutions employed. For instance : Take fifteen 
dozen sheepskins, a considerable portion of the wool of which may have 
been previously removed in any desired manner, and place them in a 
revolving drum of about three hundred gallons capacity, making twenty 
revolutions per minute and containing one hundred and twenty gallons 
of distilled water of about 95 degrees Fahr. and holding in solution ten 
pounds of good commercial caustic soda, sodium hydrate (NaOH), 
Allow these skms to be revolved in the liquor for three hours, after 
which period they will be swollen or plumped, but without the appear- 
ance or characteristics of limed stock, since they do not contain lime 
beyond the smaller amount naturally present as a constituent of the raw 
skin. Draw the skins from the drum and allow them to drain for a few 
minutes. Then place them in the drum, which has been emptied of 
its previous contents, and in which have been placed fourteen pounds 
of anhydrous chloride of calcium dissolved in one hundred and twenty 
gallons of distilled water of 95 degrees Fahr. Allow the drum and its 
contents to revolve for about half an hour. The skins will now present 
a totally different appearance and composition identical with the fully 
limed goods. After completion by copious washings with distilled 
water, the skins upon assay do not yield sodium hydrate, but calcium 
hydrate intimately combined with skin matter. This process is the 
property of John and Edward Pullman, of London, Eng. 

METHODS OF USING PATENTED DEPILATORIES. 

In addition to sulphide of sodium, used for the purpose of removing 
hair and wool from the hides and skins and preparing them for tanning, 
there are on the market patented depilatories. These materials are very 
satisfactory articles for both wool- pullers and tanners to use, and leather 
from stock that has been treated with them is characterized by great 
toughness, pliability and fine, close grain. These depilatories are used 
upon the various classes of hides and skins in the following manner : 
The depilatory crystals should first be dissolved into a liquid with boiling 
water or steam ; being a compound, the material is simply reduced with 
hot water and not allowed to settle, but the whole liquor is used, as the 
settlings are a most valuable part of the preparation, forming a slight 
carrying body, which adheres to the skins and will not gum or injure 
the wool, but on the contrary makes it clean, soft and silky, equal to 
sweated wool. The strength of the solution should be for salted skins, 
12 to 24 degrees Baume ; thin, open wool skins, 14 to 18 degrees; 
thick, heavy merino and bucks, 18 to 24 degrees; milk lambs, 18 to 
24 degrees ; used upon goat and kid skins at the same strengths as upon 
sheep and lamb skins. The strength, however, need never be greater 
than just sufficient to start the wool or hair ; if applied stronger than 
this no injury results to the skins ; the material is merely wasted. 



APPENDIX. 577 

The skins should never be allowed to heat before or after treatment, 
nor in any stage of the process. Salted or dried stock should be soaked 
from twenty-four to sixty hours, and after washing and breaking thor- 
oughly, be well drained of water or extracted before painting with 
depilatory. The wool or hair usually starts in a few hours after paint- 
ing, and it is well to pull or unhair promptly, say the next day. Milk 
or young lamb and kid skins on which the depilatory is used full strength 
should be pulled as soon as the wool or hair starts, and immediately put 
into clean, cold water and then limed very lightly from six to eighteen 
hours. All slats, after pulling and unhairing, should be immediately 
put into cold water, to which some depilatory has been added ; in this 
they are safe for a good while and in no danger of heating, pricking or 
spoiling. No depilatory-treated skin can be injured so long as it is 
kept moist and not allowed to dry out or become hard. The first lime 
can be half renewed for each batch by adding one bucketful of lime for 
every four hundred skins, and should always be kept clean and sweet 
and only used once ; and the slats may remain in this lime over night, 
or from twelve to fifteen hours, in warm weather, and from twelve to 
thirty- six hours in cold weather. 

The second lime should be made entirely fresh, using about two 
buckets of lime to every four hundred skins. The slats can remain in 
this lime from one to two days in hot weather, and two to four days in 
cold weather, when they will be sufficiently limed for ordinary purposes. 
If they are to be tanned without pickling, a little more lime may be 
necessary and will do no harm ; if high-limed stock is desired, a third, 
and even a fourth lime may be used. It will be found advantageous to 
pull the slats out daily while liming in case still limes are used, and it 
should always be borne in mind that the stronger the solution of de- 
pilatory is, and the less it is washed out before liming, the weaker and 
less liming are required. After the skins are taken out of the lime 
vats, they should be washed in clean, cold water and are then ready for 
fleshing or the drench, out of which, work on the grain side and trim, 
putting them again into clean water as fast as worked, and from this 
water flesh them well on the beams or machine. 

In the treatment of light hair skins, such as goat and kangaroo skins, 
when it is not desired to save the hair , they can be soaked and softened , 
and then put into a liquor made up of from ten to fifteen pounds of 
depilatory to every one hundred gallons of water in the vat. The de- 
pilatory should all be dissolved and the liquor well stirred up before the 
stock is put in. Keeping the skins in a solution prepared in this man- 
ner for twenty-four hours, with occasional stirring about, results in re- 
ducing the hair to pulp, which can be easily removed by washing for a 
few minutes in clean cold water. The mixing of lime with the depila- 
tory is not recommended, as the stock is not quite so soft as when the 
depilatory is used alone. In case dry skins do not get thoroughly 
soaked and softened before they are put into the solution of depilatory, 
they may remain in the liquor from twenty- four to forty-eight hours, 

11 



578 APPENDIX. 

according to their condition and the strength of the liquor until they are 
thoroughly soft and plump. No lime should be applied until they are 
completely softened. After they are washed to remove the dissolved 
hair, they may be lightly limed for a few days, and then fleshed and 
drenched. 

If it is desired to save the hair, the skins should be soaked in the 
usual way and then the water extracted by means of a hydro-extractor, 
or by the skins draining thoroughly. They may then be painted with 
the solution of depilatory , at a strength of eighteen degrees Baum6. Each 
skin is then folded up, flesh side in, and allowed to lie until the next 
day , when the hair may be easily rubbed off ; the skins are washed and 
limed for a few days. Any one of the well-known methods of drench- 
ing after liming may be used. Manures are disagreeable and somewhat 
risky. Lactic acid and some of the chemical bates are safe and cheap. 
Bran may also be used with good results when it is properly applied. 
For the finer grades of stock it is sometimes necessary to work it thor- 
oughly upon the grain after drenching to remove all lime and impurities 
and then to wash it in warm water, when it will be ready for pickling 
or tanning. It is always good practice to handle the skins promptly 
and to allow no delay to take place between the operations, especially 
in hot weather. The limes should be kept sweet and clean and the 
stock handled frequently and carefully drenched, as it is during these 
processes that the character of the leather is made. 

When the New XXX Depilatory is used upon hides intended for sole 
leather, the unhairing should take place as promptly as possible and in 
such a manner as not to affect the weight of the stock, nor to remove 
substances and impair the strength of the leather. The usual method 
employed is, after the hide is soaked, it is spread out on a smooth sur- 
face, hair uppermost. If no value is placed on the hair, the hair side 
is painted with depilatory, used either clear or mixed with lime, 
well- slaked lime, three parts , J depilatory liquor about eighteen degrees 
strength, one part. The lime should be well slaked, and the depilatory 
crystals dissolved before being mixed. To apply the same, a vegetable 
fiber or tampico brush or swab made of burlap or bagging may be used. 

After the mixture has been applied evenly over the hide, it should 
be doubled up carefully and covered up so as to exclude the air and 
prevent the drying of the paste. If the hair is to be saved, the flesh 
side should be painted and the hair kept clean. The hides should be 
kept in a cool, damp place until the hair starts, then opened out, washed 
in clean cold water and unhaired ; then fleshed and the grain worked 
and washed when they are ready for tanning. 

The unhairing can be done another way. A vat is filled with water, 
and from one-half to three-fourths lime, and one -fourth to one-half 
dissolved depilatory liquor, eighteen or twenty degrees strength, added 
thereto and well mixed. Then the hides are thrown in and left in the 
liquor over night or from one day until the next. The use of lime is 
not necessary ; a liquor of nothing but depilatory crystals of a strength 



APPENDIX. 579 

of from five to ten degrees Baum^ may be used. In this the hides may 
remain until they are thoroughly soft and the hair comes off readily. 
All tanning operations are the same as for sweated or limed stock, 
except that slightly stronger liquors are required. It must be men- 
tioned here that only hides intended for heavy leather should be treated 
in the above manner. The hair is lost, but this loss is more than made 
up by the extra quality and increased weight gained in the leather, the 
superior fine close grain, exceeding toughness and pliability and great 
saving of time and labor. 

For upper, belting, harness, enameled and patent leathers, also calf- 
skins, the hides or skins may be painted on the grain or flesh side and 
washed or .unhaired as soon as the hair becomes loosened, which will 
be in from twelve to twenty- four hours, depending upon the thickness 
and condition of the stock, and the temperature and strength of the 
depilatory liquor. If no value is placed upon the hair, the vat method 
may be used. When it is desired to save the hair it should be promptly 
and well washed and spread out to dry as soon as convenient after 
being taken off. Dry foreign hides, kips, etc., must be brought to 
natural condition of softness by thorough soaking in water, fulling and 
stretching. This work can be greatly hastened and facilitated by dis- 
solving and adding to the soaks about one-eighth of an ounce of depil- 
atory for each hide or skin to be soaked. 

By painting the hides or skins as has been described, and after 
unhairing, a further liming or swelling may be considered necessary for 
easier fleshing, scraping, beaming or splitting. This can be done by 
means of depilatory water alone, which can be made new, or the water 
the painted hides have been washed in after unhairing can be saved 
for the purpose, or weak clean limes, as for goat and sheep- skins, can 
be used. But in any case the liquor should be well stirred and mixed 
before the hides are put in. The strength of the liquor can be re- 
duced or increased as circumstances require. The proportion of depil- 
atory necessary for liming and swelling purposes is about one to one 
and one-half ounces for each hide ; one-half to three-fourths of an 
ounce for each kip ; and one-fourth to three-eighths of an ounce for 
each calfskin. If the water is hard, a little more may be used. The 
swelling and liming are usually completed in from one to four days, 
depending upon the nature and condition of the hides or skins, the 
strength of the liquor and the weather and temperature of the limes. 

All stock intended for splitting after unhairing, can be plumped or 
swelled much better with depilatory water, or with clean, well-slaked 
lime with depilatory water added, from one -fourth to three ounces of 
depilatory for each hide, depending on size and thickness. It will re- 
quire from one to five days. The tanner must use his judgment as to 
these matters, and if the right results are not obtained on first trial, 
something has been done wrong. It is also important that the hides 
or skins be opened out, examined and handled daily ; the scraping, 
fleshing and shaving can be done immediately after unhairing or after 



580 APPENDIX. 

swelling. Any stray hairs that may remain can easily be removed when 
cleaning the grain after swelling. A thorough cleaning of the grain is 
generally superfluous, it being usually smooth and clean, as nothing 
touches it to make it unclean. A slight washing in warm water is suffi- 
cient to cause the stray hairs to come off. For some kinds of stock a 
bran drench will tend to soften and improve the grain. 

If no value is placed on the hair, the painting of hides, kips, calf- 
skins and other skins intended for tough upper leather may be dispensed 
with, and no lime need be used. From twelve to forty-eight ounces of 
depilatory dissolved and added to every fifteen gallons of water in the 
vat, maybe used. According to the strength of this liquor the hides or 
skins will unhair in two or three days and will be sufficiently swelled to 
be fleshed, beamed and split. The time can be increased or shortened 
by using more or less depilatory in the water. The glue stock obtained 
is just as valuable as from limed or sweated hides , but should be limed 
before it is used. 

The unequal thickness of horse-hides makes them particularly diffi- 
cult to unhair and swell sufficiently for splitting, and to overcome this 
a depilatory liquor of eighteen degrees Be. may be used on the fore 
part, and a liquor of twenty- four degrees upon the hind part, used either 
clear or mixed with lime. After unhairing, the hides may be limed for 
a few days in weak clean limes, the length of time of liming being re- 
duced fully one-half. The subsequent treatment is the same as usually 
employed. Hog and alligator skins are limed and treated in the same 
manner as horse and other hides. Patented depilatories are made and 
sold by Messrs. Stone, Timlow & Co., of New York City. 

BATING WITH BICHROMATE OF POTASH. 

The gist of this process lies in the employment of a chromium com- 
pound as a base, a solution of it forming the main ingredient of the 
bate, but it is not essential that the latter should consist exclusively of 
such a solution. 

Prepare a saturated solution of two ounces of bichromate of potash 
in water, pour it into a vat containing one thousand gallons of water 
and stir the liquor thoroughly. The quantity named is sufficient for 
the treatment of from twenty to forty hides. 

The liquor having been stirred as described, the unhaired hides are 
thrown into it and left therein for about twenty-four hours, being moved 
about occasionally so as to secure a uniform action of the bate. The 
chromium compound will mix with the lime, and by its action it will 
cause it to be more readily washed out, it being understood that the 
hides are washed or cleaned as usual at the termination of the bating 
process, and then are put into the tanning liquor. 

In practical work the bate is used in the following manner : After 
unhairing, the hides are washed in a wash-wheel. A vat is then filled 
with the quantity of water required, after which the bate-wheel is started 



APPENDIX. 581 

up and tiie liquor warmed up with steam to 80 degrees Fahr. While 
the water is getting warm the necessary amount of bate is dissolved in 
hot water and poured into the bate vat. The hides are then run in the 
liquor for a short time and left in it over night or longer, depending 
upon their condition. They are then fine- haired, again washed in 
warm water and are ready to be tanned. About two ounces of the 
bate are used for two thousand pounds of green salted hides. Bichro- 
mate of potash as a bate has been patented by Henry Schlegel, of 
Lapeer, Mich. 

BATING WITH DILUTE MURIATIC ACID. 

It has been discovered that skins coming from the lime after under- 
going the usual washing and fleshing can be put into suitable condition 
for immersion in the tan liquor without resorting to bating, reducing, 
drenching or puring as is now commonly employed. 

The elimination of the lime or alkali, the ' ' letting out " or " open- 
ing up " of the skins to overcome the shrinking effect of the lime, the 
smoothing and " letting down " of the grain, the starting of the gelatin- 
ous substance in the skin and regulating its loss, the opening of the 
texture of the hide from its swollen gelatinous condition are all effec- 
tively accomplished by treatment with a suitable acid and salt solution, 
applied as hereinafter specified. After treatment the solution remain- 
ing in the hide acts upon it practically by what is known as "horsing" 
the hides. A perceptible change in the hide or skin will be noticed 
during the next twelve to forty-eight hours, and in this state they may 
be kept for a number of days without injury and ready for immersion 
in the actual tanning bath. At the first glance at this state of the hides 
they may appear somewhat similar to stock immersed in an ordinary 
pickle ; but the differences are very marked in the quality of the skin 
before immersion in the tanning liquor. 

The skins, after being unhaired, washed and fleshed, are placed in 
an aqueous solution containing from one to five per cent, of chloride of 
sodium and one-tenth of one per cent, of commercial muriatic acid. 
After a period of from one to two hours it will be found that almost all 
acid reaction has disappeared, and at this time another one-tenth of 
one per cent, of muriatic acid is to be added. After a further period 
of from one to two hours the acid reaction becomes very weak, and 
thus again one-tenth of one per cent, of muriatic acid is to be added. 
If the acid reaction should cease inside of two hours (the test to be 
made by the use of litmus paper or other indicator) another one-tenth 
of one per cent, of muriatic acid should be added ; but if the acid re- 
action has not disappeared within two hours no further acid should be 
added. 

The treatment can be carried on successfully at a degree of temper- 
ature as low as 3 degrees Centigrade (37.4 degrees Fahr.) and again 
as high as 40 degrees Centigrade (104 degrees Fahr.), the degree of 
temperature being determined by the nature of the stock and the effect 



582 APPENDIX. 

on the grain, as different skins act differently under the same treat- 
ment. Thus the softer-natured skins, such as those of sheep and 
colts, require a lower temperature, and the harder skins, such as those 
of goats, permitting a higher temperature. The test as is understood 
by tanners, is to be determined by the feel of the grain, whether it is 
smooth or not and by general appearances. The acid is used in such 
quantities and qualities only at a time that it will act to combine with 
the lime, but will not to any extent with the substance of the hides. 
The affinity between the lime and the acid being greater than that be- 
tween the acid and hide substance, the treatment renders it possible 
to remove the lime without causing the acid to combine to any ex- 
tent with the hide substance, and thus leave the hide in its natural 
condition. The salt is to be used in such quantities only as to over- 
come the swelling action of the acid, and also for the purpose of pre- 
venting too rapid action of the acid. 

An important part of this process consists in the discovery that the 
specific gravity (to be regulated by the amount of salt in the solution) 
in which the skins are to be immersed before treatment with the tan- 
ning solution should be substantially the same as the specific gravity of 
the tanning bath. By having these specific gravities coincide or nearly 
coincide there is little or no formation of strong currents of diffusion 
inside of the skins after they are removed from the salt and acid bath 
and immersed in the tanning bath, and thus there is no undesirable 
effect produced upon the texture of the hides, and consequently upon 
the ultimate texture of the leather produced therefrom. 

In processes of drum tanning as applied to heavy hides it not infre- 
quently happens that the strong liquor used and the rapidity with which 
the tanning is done results in injury to the quality and texture of the 
leather as well as producing a hard grain. The graining that results 
from drum processes has always been one of the chief objections to 
such methods. Experience generally teaches a tanner that it is neces- 
sary to start the tanning in vats with weak liquors, then to use a drum 
process, and perhaps as a final tannage to place the hides again in vats. 
Extremely strong tanning liquors applied directly to skins coming from 
the beamhouse always produce inferior leather as regards feel, texture, 
weight and appearance. This process is the invention of Arnold H. 
Peter, of New York. 

BATING WITH EXCREMENTITIOUS SUBSTANCE AND SULPHUR. 

The following example will serve to show the best way of practicing 
this invention. There is first prepared a mixture of an excrementitious 
substance with sulphur in order to insure the presence of the sulphur 
from the beginning of putrefaction. To about one hundred pounds of 
dry excrementitious substance five pounds of flowers of sulphur are 
added and the two are mixed together. Sufficient water is then added 
to form a semi-liquid paste. By this means the presence of the sul- 



APPENDIX.. 583 

phur from the beginning of the resulting putrefaction of the excremen- 
titious substance is insured, so that the resulting products and com- 
pounds of the putrefaction are presented in their nascent state to the 
sulphur from the commencement and thereafter throughout the opera- 
tion of the process. 

The mixture is then allowed to stand until the required extent and 
character of putrefaction has been developed. An aqueous bath is 
then prepared of the usual volume, say in the ratio of about three 
pounds of water to one pound of the hides treated. Into this bath is 
introduced a proportion of the said mixture of putrefying excremen- 
titious matter, sulphur and resulting compounds in the ratio of ten 
per cent, of such mixture estimated on the weight of the stock to be 
treated. The hides are then put into this bath, the temperature of 
which is maintained at about 100 degrees Fahr., until the required 
effect has been produced upon them, when they may be withdrawn. 
The proportion of sulphur to be employed may vary somewhat accord- 
ing to circumstances ; but it is preferable that the quantity shall be 
such as to insure at all times during the continuance of the process the 
presence of an excess of that agent. 

While the preferred method of utilizing the sulphur is that which has 
been described, it will nevertheless be understood that the advantages 
of this process may be realized, though less comprehensively, by intro- 
ducing the sulphur separately into the bath after the putrefying ex- 
crementitious matter has been charged therein, care being taken, 
however, to secure as intimate a mixture of such sulphur therewith as 
possible . 

The requisite strength of the bath may for successive charges be 
maintained by adding, say, an additional two per cent, of the said 
mixture of putrefying excrementitious substances and sulphur, esti- 
mated on the weight of each new charge of hides introduced, thus 
making it practicable to use the same bath continuously for a number 
of lots of hides. 

This process is patented by its inventor. 

BATING WITH SULPHURIC ACID, GLAUBER'S SALT AND BORAX. 

A process of bating by the use of a compound solution of sulphuric 
acid, borax and Glauber's salt has also been made the subject of a patent. 
In applying this process, the hides or skins, after liming, are placed in 
a vat or other suitable apparatus containing a solution of three pounds 
of sulphuric acid, three pounds of borax and three pounds of Glauber's 
salt, these ingredients being thoroughly mixed with about five or six 
barrelfuls of water, or sufficient water to cover one hundred and fifty hides 
or skins. After being placed in this solution, if they are not agitated 
in any manner, the hides or skins should remain in it about thirty-six 
hours, but if the solution and the hides or skins are in a tank provided 
with a wheel for stirring, then about five hours will be sufficient for the 
action of the solution. 



584 APPENDIX, 

After the treatment of the hides in the solution abo\e desciibed, 
they are placed for a second treatment in an ordinary bark liquor, to 
which are added about three pounds of muriatic acid, and about fifty 
pounds of common salt. The quantity of bark liquor to which the 
above ingredients are added is about one thousand gallons of six 
degrees Be. The addition of the muriatic acid and salt serves to pre- 
cipitate all foreign substances in the bark liquor, and to prevent any 
fermentation thereof, and the action of the ingredients in the solution 
so formed is to soften and render the hides soaked therein more plump. 

This method of treatment in a solution of water, sulphuric acid, 
borax and Glauber's salt for neutralizing the lime in the hides may be 
practiced without treating them to the solution of bark liquor, muriatic 
acid and salt ; they may also be treated to the action of the latter solu- 
tion without submitting them to the action of the first named liquor for 
the purpose of neutralizing the lime. N. Wilson, Becket, Mass., has 
patented the above process. 

BATING WITH HYPOSULPHITE OF SODA, ACID AND SALT. 

After the hides or skins have been thoroughly washed and as much 
of the lime removed from them as is possible, a further treatment is 
necessary in order to more completely prepare them for tanning and 
to produce a superior leather. To accomplish this object in a simple 
manner and without injury to the hides or skins a solution of about two 
hundred and fifty gallons of water, one hundred and fifty pounds of 
common salt, three pounds of hyposulphite of soda and three pounds 
of either sulphuric or muriatic acid is used. About t\vo hundred calf- 
skins and about fifty hides can be agitated in this solution for about 
two hours. After this they are processed in a second solution com- 
posed of two hundred gallons of water , ten pounds of Glauber's salt and 
sixty pounds of hyposulphite of soda or the same quantity of sodium 
sulphite crystals. In this solution they should be stirred about for two 
hours or longer, after which they are ready for the process of tanning. 
The above solutions can be used for a long time , as they do not fer- 
ment or decompose. They only require strengthening proportionately, 
as they become weakened, by the addition of the same ingredients. 
The ingredients of both solutions can be combined in one with good 
results. 

BATING WITH TURKEY-RED OIL AND SAL AMMONIAC. 

This process is for the purpose of freeing hides and skins from lime, 
softening, purifying and swelling them after they have been removed 
from the lime vat and have been unhaired. By this process they are 
fitted to receive and absorb tanning materials. It consists in subject- 
ing the limed hides or skins to the action of a bath consisting of a mix- 
ture of neutralized sulfoleic acids, such as sulforicinoleate of sodium, 
commonly known as turkey- red oil, with sal ammoniac or ammonium 
chloride. 



APPENDIX. 585 

The lime in the skins is converted into soluble salts of chloride, at 
the same time decomposing the sulfoleic acid or the sulforicinoleic-acid 
salt forming calcium chloride and free fat acid. The fat acid is nearly 
all absorbed by the hides or skins, thus filling the interstitial cells pre- 
viously occupied by the lime and the result is soft, porous, swelled and 
purified hides or skins, well adapted to absorb the tanning material 
subsequently employed. 

By neutralized sulfoleic acid and sulforicinoleic acid hereinbefore 
mentioned are meant products resulting from treatment of non-drying 
vegetable oils or fats, sometimes called " triglycerids," such as castor 
oil, cotton seed oil, arachis (peanut) oil, corn oil, etc., with strong sul- 
phuric acid. The resulting products after being washed to free them 
from free sulphuric acid are finally neutralized with potassium or sodium 
hydrate or ammonia , by which means sulfoleates of the bases potassium , 
sodium or ammonium are produced. 

A general formula answering the purpose may be used as follows : 
one hundred parts by weight of castor oil ; thirty to fifty parts by weight 
of sulphuric acid, 66 degrees Baum6. Agitate thoroughly in a lead- 
lined vessel and let stand over night. Then draw off the subnatant 
liquor, which contains the excess of sulphuric acid, and wash the sul- 
foricinoleic acid which floats on the top with a saturated solution of 
brine, sodium chloride (NaCl) or a saturated solution of Glauber's salt, 
sodium sulfate (Na2S04). Wash twice with either of these saturated 
solutions and nearly neutralize the ricinoleic acid with sodium hydrate 
(NaHA) ; then completely neutralize with ammonia (NH,). 

In the above formula for castor oil may be substituted olive oil, corn 
oil, cotton seed oil, arachis (peanut) oil, etc., in the same quantity 
with similar effect. The resulting product should show a slightly alka- 
line reaction and should be soluble in water without the appearance of 
grease floating on the top and, if not perfectly clear, should show at 
least a perfectly clear emulsion that will not separate when diluted with 
hot water on standing awhile. 

The object of this process is to free from lime, purify, cleanse , soften 
and swell the hides and skins by the employment of soluble oil, thus 
dispensing with the use of manure, bran, etc., as at present employed 
for the purpose of bating. 

After the hides or skins have been limed, fleshed and washed they 
are treated with this bating process to be freed from lime, softened, 
swelled, purified and made ready for the tanning operations. When 
they have arrived at this stage , they are introduced into a bath com- 
posed of a mixture of sulforicinoleate of sodium and an ammonium salt, 
preferably sal-ammoniac. The bate bath is as follows : For two thou- 
sand pounds of limed hides or skins , use a vat or a semicylindrical vat 
or a revolving mill, such as is commonly employed by tanners, and run 
into it approximately about seven hundred and fifty gallons of water, to 
which add twenty pounds of sulforicinoleate of sodium, commonly 
known as Turkey- red oil or soluble oil, and ten pounds of chloride of 



5 86 APPENDIX. 

ammonium (sal ammoniac). Then raise the temperature of the bath 
to about from 105 to 115 degrees Fahr., and introduce the limed hides 
or skins. 

In practice it is found that about one per cent, of the weight of the 
skins of sulforicinoleate of sodium (Turkey- red oil) mixed with about 
one- half of one per cent, of the weight of the skins of sal ammoniac, 
when diluted with water enough to cover the stock and raised to the 
temperature above stated, will rapidly effect the decomposition and 
conversion of the lime contained in the hides or skins into soluble lime 
solution or calcium chloride. Coincidently the fatty acid of the soluble 
oil is set free and is absorbed in such a manner by the skins as to swell 
and make them porous and at the same time neutralize any adhering 
lime that may remain in the cellular tissues that may not have been 
acted upon by the free ammonium chloride in the bath. After the 
limed hides or skins have been introduced into the bath they must be 
paddled or stirred about or drummed in the usual manner for about one 
hour, although they will not be injured by being left in the bath for a 
longer period of time. 

Generally they are kept in the bath until they are in a soft and rag- 
like condition, which the experienced tanner will readily recognize. 

It is not necessary to treat them at the exact temperature of 105 to 
J 15 degrees Fahr. A cold bath may be used but a longer duration of 
time is required. To expedite the process 105 degrees to 115 degrees 
Fahr. has been found to be a desirable temperature. After the skins 
are sufficiently reduced and free from lime they may be placed in the 
tanning liquors immediately after being purified by this process. The 
bate bath can be used continuously for some time by adding fresh, but 
less, material as the bath increases in age and strength. This process, 
it is claimed, can be used for freeing from lime and for purifying, 
cleansing, and swelling stock of every description, the same retaining 
its natural fiber and strength, and after passing through the subsequent 
tanning operations, the resultant leather is stronger and superior in 
quality to that bated by dung fermentation processes. 

BATING WITH PANCREATIC EXTRACT. 

For bating hides, that is to say, for removing the lime and fatty mat- 
ter from them after the liming process , dog manure has been used for a 
long time. 

The invention here referred to has for its object to provide a simpler 
and more reliable method for removing the lime, together with the fatty 
matter and the remnant of the hairs. For this purpose treat the hides 
with an aqueous extract from the pancreas of animals. The principal 
constituent of the pancreatic extract is trypsin, the effect of which is 
materially assisted by the other enzyme of the pancreas, viz., steapsin, 
which has the property of splitting up fat and completing the saponifica- 
tion of the fat contained in the hides. Aqueous pancreatic extracts alon§ 



APPENDIX. 587 

have a very efficient bating action , but it is advantageous to add salts of 
ammonia or of alkalies or mixtures of such salts. The favorable effect 
of these salts on hides becomes apparent chiefly by the fact that they 
shrink, become thinner and are less liable to become rough on being 
placed in pure water after the bating process, which defect is liable to 
occur when they have a strong alkaline reaction and the water contains 
a considerable quantity of calcium bicarbonate. 

The details of procedure will appear from the following example : A 
pancreas weighing about 250 grams is extracted with i liter of water, 
and 10 cubic centimeters of this extract are added to 990 cubic centi- 
meters of a 0.1 per cent, aqueous solution of ammonium chloride. The 
solution thus obtained is an excellent bate. 

When the hides, which have been limed and have an alkaline reac- 
tion, are introduced into the bating liquid they are liable to become 
rough through the precipitation of calcium carbonate, in case the water 
employed contains much calcium bicarbonate in solution. This defect 
may occur whether the bating liquid contains trypsin alone or together 
with salts of ammonia or alkali, and it may be avoided by subjecting 
the water intended for the preparation of the bate to a preliminary 
treatment, which consists in precipitating the carbonic acid by means 
of a suitable quantity of lime water, or in adding to the bating liquid 
before the introduction of the hides starch-paste or other organic or 
inorganic materials adapted to envelop the calcium carbonate. If 
desired, both lime water and starch-paste may at the same time be 
used. Patented by Otto Rohm. 

BATING WITH GLUCOSE, SULPHUR AND YEAST. 

In working with the Oakes' process, the hides or skins are washed, 
limed, unhaired and washed again. A bath is now prepared at a tem- 
perature of 95 to 100 degrees Fahr., consisting of five per cent, of 
glucose syrup and one per cent; of sulphur, computed on the weight of 
the skins or hides , and about one pound of yeast for every thousand 
pounds treated. Having prepared the bath in this manner, it is allowed 
to stand about twenty-four hours to become thoroughly fermented. At 
the end of this time the temperature is raised to 100 degrees Fahr. and 
the hides or skins are put into the bath. 

In order to have a continuous bath, one- half the original amount of 
sulphur, glucose and yeast are added at the same tim.e. In working 
this process it is not necessary to keep the skins in constant motion, 
but only to move them from time to time in order to secure uniformity 
of action, once an hour being sufficient. By this method of treatment 
heavy bull or cow hides will be free from lime and in a soft and open 
condition at the end of eight hours, while lighter skins will require a 
proportionately shorter period. 

On removing the pack the temperature of the bath may be raised, 
and after introducing one-half the original quantity of sulphur, glucose 



588 Appendix. 

and yeast, another pack may be treated, thus making it possible to work 
two packs each day in the same vat if desired. It will be understood 
that a continuous bath would in time become too concentrated from 
solutions of calcium compounds, and thus prevent or retard fermenta- 
tion. This difficulty, however, is obviated by drawing off half of the 
solution each and every time after treatment of the second pack. 

The hides or skins, as they are removed from the bath, show no 
trace of lime. They are soft and open and have a smooth, silky grain. 
As there is nothing in this treatment to cause putrefaction, there is no 
loss of hide substance, and furthermore, as all of the lime has been 
neutralized, the goods do not require a drench or pickle, but after 
washing are ready for the tan, regardless whether it be vegetable or 
mineral in character. This is the Oakes patented process of bating 
hides and skins. 



INDEX. 



ACETIC acid, pickling with, 123, 124 
Acid and salt, pickling with, 2(33 
bath in bleaching, 342, 343 
bnrns, 489 
fat-liquor, 127 

fat-liquoring with, 39 

how to make and use, 

of castor oil, 362, 363 

neatsfoot and cod oils, 

363-365 

pickle, splitting out of, 13, 14 

-pickled grains,chrome-tanning 

of, 14-16 
tanning of goat skins, 268, 269 
-treated oil, how to use, 365 
Acidity of tanning liquor, 413 
Adler, George W. , patent of, 566, 567 
Alizarine brown, dj'eing shoe and glove 
leather with, 112, 113 
on chrome calfskins, 20!) 
red brown on chrome upper leather, 
19, 20 
Alkali, amount of, for bleaching, 328 

function of, in bleaching, 329 
Alum and chrome tanning, process of, 
566, 567 
salt, clearing the grain with, 
50, 339, 340 
process for hides with the 
hair upon them, 358-360 
tanning snake skins with, 
446, 447 
white sheep leather 
with, 127-130 
flour and salt tannage for white goat 

leather, 291, 292" 
salt and hemlock extract, tanning 
woolskins with, 175, 176 
egg-yolk and flour, tanning 
sheepskin fleshers with, 145 
sumac and oak bark, tanning sheep- 
skins with, 135, 136 
tannage for deerskins. 448, 449 
-tanned lace leather, 77-82 

leather, coloring of, 137, 138 
tawing, 516 

with Turkey-red oils, 541 



Alumina-pickled grains, chrome-tanning 

of, 16 
Amend, Otto P., patent of, 521, 522 
Aniline black, dyeing with, 204, 205 
coloring, preparation of skins for, 

366 
colors, how to dissolve, 202, 203 
mordant for, 20, 21 
removal of, from leather, 400, 
401 
dyes, coloring vegetable - tanned 
sheepskins with, 157-160 
dissolving of, 23 
dyeing goatskins with, 280, 281 
mordant for, 108 
preparation of chrome-tanned 
calfskins for, 194, 195 
Anilines valuable in dyeing chrome- 
tanned skins, 110, 111 
Antimonine in leather dyeing, 466, 467 
Antimony compounds in leather dveing, 
466, 467 
use of, as mordants, 388 
Argentina, degreasing sheepskins in, 

375, 376 
Arsenic limes, liming calfskins in, 1S2, 

183 
Automobiles, leather for, 513-516 
Spanish leather for, 152, 153 
Azedarach, gambler, taimic acid, alum 
and oil of cedar, tanning with, 517 

BACTERIA influence of temperature 
on, 423 
Bacterial bate, bating kangaroo skins 
with, 310, 311 
with, 9-11 
Bag leather, chrome, 37, 38 

manufacture of, 62-69 
Balloon coverings, leather for, 524-527 
Bark liquor, saltpetre, alum and Glau- 
ber's salt, tanning with, 539 
-tanned leather, retanning of, 368 
use of oil in finishing, 
394 
tanning snake skins with, 447 
Barkometer, use of, 445 



(589) 



590 



INDEX. 



Barrels, how to clean, 492 

Basic alumina liquor tanning sheepskin 

fleshers with, 144, 145 

Bating, apparatus for, 261 

calfskins, 187-191 

for glove leather, 212, 213 
russet and fancy leather, 232, 
233 
determination of sufficient, 261 
goatskins, 259-263 
hides for bag and case leather, 64 
chrome - Iiarness leather, 
300, 301 
sole leather, 296 
lace leatlier, 72 
picker leather, 84 
injury to skins by, 262 
kangaroo skins, 310-312 
methods of, 7-11 

Oakes patented process of, 587, 588 
pigskins, 378, 379 
seal skins, 453, 454, 457 
with bichromate of potash, 580, 581 
combination bate, 427 
dermifornia, 423, 424 
dilute muriatic acid, 581, 682 
dog dung. 426, 427 
excrementitious substance and 

sulphur, 582, 583 
glucose, sulphur and yeast, 

587, 588_ 
hyposulphite of soda, acid and 

salt, 684 
molasses, 422, 423 
pancreatic extract, 586, 587 
sulphuric acid, Glauber's salt 

and borax, 583, 584 
Turkey red oil and sal am- 
moniac, 584-586 
Beamhouse process for cabretta skins, 
263-265 
work for seal skins, 456, 457 
improved process of, 574 
Beamhouses, whitewash for, 483 
Belt laces, chrome process for, 73-75 
-leather, clirome-tanned, 37, 38, 
304-300 
laces, new method for, 519 
palmetto extract for tanning, 

438, 439 
process for. 529-531 
Belts, chrome, trimmings of, 305, 306 
Bichromate of potash, bating with, 580, 

581 
Bindings, sheepskin fleshers for, 146, 147 
Bird dung for bating, 260 
Bisulphite of soda, bleaching with, 336 
Black for chrome wax calf leather, 218 



Black for wax calf, kip, upper and splits, 
499 
glazed finish on India-tanned skins, 

245 
luster, seasoning for, 69 
on chrome calfskins, 203-205 
goatskins, 273-275 
India-tanned skins, 244, 245 
kangaroo skins. 315-317 
vegetable-tanned sheepskins, 155- 

157 
woolskins, 177, 178 
preparation of a, 517 
receipts for dyeing chrome side- 
leather, 24-26 
russet and fancy leather, 237, 238 
Blackening seal skins, 455 
Blacking chrome wax calf leather, 218 
for edges of chrome leather, 478 
harness, 473 

leather, kangaroo leather, 
chrome leather and other 
black stock, 500 
Napa skins, 136 

vegetable-tanned leather, 480, 481 
varnish, bright, for shoe leather, 
490, 491 
Bleaching, acid bath in, 342, 343 

and finishing russet leather, 345- 

347 
apparatus for, 328 
bag and case leather, 66 

leather, 330-332 
chamois skins, 142, 143 
chrome harness leather, 303, 304 

-leather, 341 
flesh of hemlock-tanned harness 

leather, 481 
Goodyear welting, 71 
hemlock-tanned skins, 238 

sole-leatlier. 343, 344 
leather, laws governing, 327 

methods of, 327-348 
material, consumption of, 327 
mill-stuffed harness leather, 347, 

318 
processes, effects of, 334 
russet skirting leather, 337, 338 
skins with the hair on, 483, 484 
sole leather by hand, 345 
with bisulphite of soda, 336 

borax and lactic acid, 338, 339 
gold dust washing powder and 

acid, 331, 335 
hydrosulphites. 335 
oxalic acid, 340, 341 
permanganate of potash, 336, 
337 



INDEX. 



591 



Bleaching with sodium peroxide, 386 

sugar of lead and sulphuric 

acid, 333, 334 
sumac, borax and sulphuric 

acid, 332, 333 
tanning material, alkali and 
acid, 341 
woolskins, 171 
Blood, defibrined, preparation of, 476 

preservation of, 478 
Blue black with nigrosine, 492 
flesh on calfskins, 228 

receipts for, 55, 56 
or black flesh on kangaroo leather, 
325 
Boarded finish, 32 

on calfskin leather, 2C9, 210 
grains, 251, 252 
Bohn, Charles, patent of, 545, 546 
Book-binding leather, finishing India- 
tanned skins into, 
248-252 
grain or morocco finish 

on, 250, 251 
marble efiects on, 249- 
251 
Borax and lactic acid, bleaching with, 
_ 338, 339 
sulphuric acid, bleaching with, 
332.333 
bleaching properties of, 436 
properties of, 434, 435 
use of, in the soaks, 180 

tannery. 434-436 
Box calf, combination finish for, 486 
final dressing for, 485 
finish on, 209, 210 
Bran, alum and salt, tanning furs and 
hair-skins with, 350, 351 
bating calfskins with, 189 

kangaroo skins with, 311, 312 
drench, 164, 165, 424, 425 
drenching, 122, 123 

sheepskins with, 97, 98 
Brown on chrome upper leather, 19, 20 
goatskins, 281 
sheepskins, 110 
vegetable-tanned sheepskins, 
158, 159 
Brown, Sherman, patent of, 510 
Burkiialter, Charles, liming process 

patented by, 572, 573 
Burrows. D.. patent of, 512, 513 
Butts for belting leather, 304 

CABKETTA skins, beamhouse process 
for, 263-265 
Caecum, leather from the, 507, 508. 
624-527 



Calfskin glove and mitten leather, 212- 
216 
leather, boarded or box finish on, 
209, 210 
chrome wax, 216-219 
dampening and staking of, 209 
glazed finish on, 209 
oiling and drying of, 208 
smooth dull finish on. 210, 211 
leathers, manufacture of, 179-240 
upper leather, vegetable tannages 
for, 219-223 
Calfskins, bating of, 187-191 

of, with dermiforma, 423 
dog dung, 426 
black and colored, fat liquors for, 

205-208 
chocolate brown on, 200-202 
chrome colored, seasoning for, 211 

tanning of, 191-194 
grading and classification of, 450, 

451 
liming and bating of, 182-191 
mordants for, 196-198 
oxblood shades on, 198-200 
palmetto extract for tanning, 439 
pickling of, 191 

preparing the. with lime and sul- 
phide of sodium, 184-186 
quebracho extract for, 443, 444 
retanning of, for chrome wax 

leather. 216, 217 
russet and fancy leather, 231-238 
soaking of, 179-181 
tanning of, with gambler, sumac 

and oak extract, 368, 369 
vegetable and combination-tanned, 
coloring and finishing of, 228-231 
washing of, 195, 196 
with the hair on them, tanning of, 
361 
Campbell, John, patent of, 518 

and Rush worth, William 
A., patent of, 569 
Carmichael, Henry, patent of, 556-559 
Carriages, leather for, 513-516 
Case leather, manufacture of, 62-69 
Casein, 397 

Castile soap fat-liquor, 479 
Castor oil, 396 

acid fat-liquor of, 362, 363 
fat-liquor, 479, 480 
soap, how to make. 474 
Catechu, septfoil, aleppo galls, hops and 
gum Senegal, tanning with, 506, 507 
Caustic soda and calcium chloride, dep- 
ilating with, 571, 572 
Chadwick, S., patent of, 362 
Chair splits, finishing splits into, 91, 92 



.■^QS 



INDEX. 



Chamois leather, 138-141 

skins, coloring of, 141, 1J2 
bleaching of, 142, 143 
Chamoising or oil tanning, 541 
Chestnut extract, function of, 441 

methods of using, 441-443 
tanning with, 440-443 
Chicken excrement, bating calfskins 
with, 190 
manure bate, preparation of, 2G0, 
300 
bating with, 10, 11 
Childs, George W., patent of, 510, 511 
China goatskins, dyeing black of, 421, 

422 
Chocolate brown on calfskins, 200-202 
on chrome upper leather, 
19 
goatskins. 280, 281 
sheepskins, 109, 110 
Chromate of lead, 409 
Chrome alum tanning liquors, 495-498 
bag and belt leather. 37, 38 
belts, trimmings of, 305. 306 
calfskins, alazarine brown on, 200 
black and colored, fat-liquors 

for, 205-208 
coloring of, after fat-liquoring, 

203 
dyeing black of, 203-205 
hydrate, 409 
leather, blacking for, 500 

edges of, 478 
bleaching, 341 

coloring of, after fat-liquoring, 
309-371 
with permanganate 
of potash ,o01-503 
dyeing black, without logwood, 
484 
witli logwood and nitrate 
of iron, 485 
European fat-liquors for, 494, 

495 
from India-tanned kips, 253- 

255 
grained, fat-liquor for, 28 
heavy grain, fat-liquor for, 29, 

30 
how to neutralize, 471 
industry, importance of fat- 
liquors in the, 394 
light, good fat-liquor for, 482, 

483 
oiling of, 409-411 
retanning of, 402, 403 

of, with palmetto extract, 
439 



Chrome leather, white, 40, 41 
liquor, formula for, 465 
good, 475, 476 

retanning India-tanned skins 
with. 247 
process for lace leather, 73-75 

one-bath, 464, 4H5, 5(i8 
processes of tanning goatskins, 265- 

271 
residues, recovery of, 408, 409 
side-glove and mitten leather, 35-37 
-leather, dyeing of. black, 24-26 
fat-liquors for, 26-31 
finishes for, 33-35 
finishing of, 31, 32 
-patent leather, 41-44 
skins, colored, dveing black, 465, 

466 ■ 
sores, prevention and treatment of, 

487-489 
tannage, 394 

for deerskins, 4-19, 450 
-tanned belt and strap leathers, 304- 
30o 
calfskins coloring of, 194-205 
furs and haii- skins, 352-355 
goatskins, processes of coloring, 

275-282 
harness leather, 299-304 
kangaroo leather, 312-315 
lamb-skin leather, fat-liquors 

for, 105-107 
leather, titanium mordants on, 

388-394 
sheep leather, white, 130-133 
sbeepskin fleshers, 1-15, 146 
leather, fat-liquors for, 
105-107 
sheepskins, coloring of. 108-113 
dyeing black, l03-l 05 
flesh finished, 120-122 
sides, use of tartar emetic for, 

22, 23 
skins, anilines valuable in dye- 
ing, 110, 111 
coloring of , with sumac and 

aniline dyes, 365-367 
finishing of, 133 
sole leather, 294-306 
wool-skins, 172-174 
tanning calfskins. 191-194 

for side leather, processes of, 

14-18 
metallic zinc in, 553-555 
new development in, 467-470 

method of, 550, 551 
one-bath process of, 15, 16, 
363, 364 



INDEX. 



593 



Chrome tanning, Schultz process of, 
551-553 
sheepskins, processes of, 99-102 
two-bath process of, 14, 15 
with glucose, glycerine, steam 
and saccharine substances, 
546-550 
wax calf leather, 216-219 
yellow, 409 
Chromic salt, tanning with. 556-559 
Chromium chloride and chromium hypo- 
sulphite, tanning with, 555, 556 
Clearing leather with alum and salt, 

339, 340 
Coal tar in sole and heavy upper leather, 

508, 509 
Coat leather, sheepskins for, 124, 125 
Coats, tanning hides for, 357. 358 
Cold test for neatsfoot oil, 404 
Color, setting the, with tartar emetic, 

198 
Colored leather, dyeing of, black, 428, 
429 
soiled, cleaning of, 400 
to prevent, from fading, 
498,499 
sheepskins, dyeing black, 105 
finishing of, 117-119 
glazed finish on, 119, 120 
Coloring alum-tanned leather, 137, 138 
and finishing India-tanned skins, 
241-2")7 
vegetable and combination- 
tanned calfskins, 
228-231 
-tanned upper leather, 
51-60 
bag and case leather, 66 
black Napa skins, 136, 137 
chamois skins, 141, 142 
chrome leather after fat-liquoring, 
369-371 
with permanganate of 
potash, 501-503 
side patent leather, 42, 43 
-tanned calfskins, 194-205 
goatskins, 275-282 
sheepskins, 108-113 

after fat-liquoring, 
114,115 
skins with sulfamine dyes, 
417 
sumac and ani- 
line dyes, 365- 
367 
upper leather, 18-22 
flesh-finished chrome sheepskins, 
121, 122 



Coloring goatskins after fai-liquoring 
with sulphonated oil, 281, 282 
India-tanned skins. 243-245 
leather, lactic acid in, 4M 

use of permanganate of potash 
in. 503, 504 
process for vegetable-tanned skins, 

480 
russet and fancy leather, 23G-238 
side leather, 58-60 
use of formic acid in, 411 . 412 
vegetable-tanned sheepskins, 153- 

163 
woolskins, 174-178 
Colors, mordants for, 226-228 
Coltskins, drenching of, with lactic 

acid, 418 
Combination bate, bating with, 427 
box calf leather, finish for, 486 
-liquor for hides with the hair upon 

them, 360 
process of tanning. 47, 48 
tannage for sheepskins. 150-152 
-tannages for kangaroo skins, 321. 

322 
-tanned calfskins, coloring and fin- 
ishing of, 228-231 
leather, fat-liquor for, 493. 494 
sides, coloring and finishing 
of, 52, 53 
Corn meal filling, 68 
Cowhides, drenching of, with lactic 

acid, 418 
Cow seal, 452 
Crushed Levant grain, 251 
Culls, 450 
Cuprous salt, tanning with, 559, 560 

DAIRY skins, 451 
Dampening and staking calfskin 
leather, 209 
Deacon skins, 451 
Deerskins, tanning of, 447-450 
Defibrined blood, preparation of, 476 
Degreasing plant, 374 
sheepskins, 374-376 
skins and leather. 371-374 
woolskins, 171, 172 
Dennis, Martin, process, 564-566 
Deodorizing furs and hair skins, 356 
Depilating in drums. 570. 571 

with caustic soda and calcium 
chloride, 571 , 572 
lime and copperas, 573, 574 
sulphide of sodium and chalk, 
570 
lime, 413, 
414 



594 



INDEX. 



Depilatories, patented, methods of 

using, 576-580 
Depilatory crystals, patented, use of 
with lime, 41-J: 
liquors. 94, 95 
new, 569 
Dermiforma, bating with, 423, 424 
Direct blue paste, 136 
Distillate tannage, 415 
Dog dung, bating with, 426, 427 
effect of upon skins, 260 
preservation of, 426 
Dogskins, tanning of, 355, 356 

washing of, 351, 352 
DoUey and Crank, patent of, 541-545 
Dongola leather, 221, 222 

liquor, preparation of, 431 

or combination process for hides, 

433, 434 
process, 431-434 

tannage for kangaroo skins, 323, 324 
Double-bleach process, 331 
Drenches for grains, 164, 165 
Drenching and pickling sheepskins with 
formic acid, 122, 123 
kangaroo skins, 310-312 
seal skins, 457 

sheepskins, methods of, 96-99 
use of formic acid in, 412, 413 
with lactic acid, 417-421 
Dressing, colorless, for russet leather, 
346, 347 
final, for box calf, 485 
for colored India-tanned skins, 246 
leather furniture, 471, 472 
Drum process, practical, for vegetable- 
tanned skins, 429-431 
Drums, depilating in, 570, 571 

how to clean, 474, 475 
Dry calfskins, soaking of, 181 

hides and skins, treatment of, 383 

soaking of, 3, 4 
tanning of furs and hairskins, 349, 
350 
Dubbing for stuffing alum-tanned lace 

leather. 78 
Dull finish, 32, 33, 34 

for kangaroo leather, 320 
seasoning for, 210, 289, 290 
Dyeing chrome and ooze leathers black, 
without logwood, 484 
leather with logwood and 

nitrate of iron , 485 
side-leather black, 24-26 
-tanned sheepskins black, 

103-105 
upper leather with natural 
dye-stuffs, 18, 19 



Dyeing colored chrome skins black, 
465, 466 
goatskins black, 273-275 
kangaroo skins, 315-317 
leather black upon the grain, 229- 
231 
Dyes, sulfamine, coloring chrome- 
tanned skins with, 417 
Dyestuffs. natural, dyeing goatskins 
with, 279, 280 

EGG yolk, 397, 398 
as an emulsifying agent, 396 
Egyptians, use of borax by the, 434 
Eitner, W., on degreasing sheepskins, 

374 
Embossed leather, 163 

sheepskins, finish for, 162, 163 
Emulsifying agents, 395 
Emulsion, definition of, 395 
Endemann, H. , patent of, 559, 560 
Engelke, Julius, patent of, 528, 629 
Excrementitious substance and sulphur, 

bating with, 582, 583 
Extract-tanned leather, retanning of, 
368 
tanning snake skins with, 447 

FAT-liquor, 62 
• acid, 127 

castor oil, 479, 480 
for butts for belting leather, 
305 
chrome side glove and mit- 
ten leather, 36, 37 
sole leather, 299 
wax calf leather, 217, 
218 
colored sheepskins, 161 
combination-tanned leather, 

493, 494 
lace leather, 76 
white chrome leather, 40 

-tanned sheep 
leather, 132 
formulae, 53-55 
giving two applications of, 

225, 226 
good, for light chrome leather, 

482,483 
ivory or castile soap, 479 
Fat-liquoring chrome side patent 
leather, 42, 43 
coloring chrome-tanned sheep- 
skins after, 114, 115 
flesh-finished chrome sheep- 
skins, 120, 121 
process of, 405-408 



INDEX. 



595 



Fat-liquoring sheepskins after coloring, 
160, 161 
with add fat liquor, 39 
Kromoline S, 416 
Fat-liquors, alkalinity or acidity of, 
399, 400 
European, 494, 495 
for black and colored chrome 
calfskins, 205-208 
chrome side-leather, 26-31 
-tanned sheep and lamb- 
skin leather, 105-107 
colored and black goatskins, 

282-285 
kangaroo skins, 317-319 
russet and fancy leather, 

234, 235 
vegetable-tanned calfskins, 
223-225 
new, preparation of, 407 
notes on the manufacture and 

application of, 394-400 
use of borax in the preparation 
of, 436 
Fatty acids, 396 
Fermentative bating of calfskins with 

lactic acid, 188, 189 
Fermented lactic acid bate, bating calf- 
skins with, 187, 188 
Feval, Leon, patent of, 513-516 
Fig soap, 399 

Finish, dull, seasoning for, 117 
for back of splits. 89, 90 

bright boarded grain leather, 56, 

57 
calfskin leather, 209-211 
chrome wax calf leather, 219 
colored India tanned skins, 246 
combination box calf leather, 486 
embossed sheepskins, 162, 163 
glazed, on colored sheepskins, 119, 
120 
Finishes for bag and case leather, 68,69 

chrome side leather, 33-35 
Finishing bag and belt leather, 39 

bark-tanned kangaroo side leather, 

57,58 
black glazed sheepskins, 115-117 
chrome harness leather, 304 

side glove and mitten leather, 
27 
-leather, 31, 32 
-patent leather, 43, 44 
tanned skins, 133 
colored sheepskins, 117-119 
combination-tanned kangaroo 

leather, 322-321 
India-tanned skins, 247 



Finishing India-tanned skins into book- 
binding leather, 248-252 
kangaroo leather, 319, 320 

patented method of, 
325, 326 
lace leather, 76, 77 
oil, 410 

rough bag and case leather, 66-68 
russet and fancy leather, 238 

skirting leather, 337, 338 
seal skins, 459 
sheepskin glove leather, 119 
sheepskins for jacket leather, 125 
skivers, 166, 167 
splits into Goodyears, chair splits, 

etc., 91, 92 
upper leather, process for, 536, 637 
use of formic acid in, 412 
varnish for patent leather, pyroxy- 
lin in, 535, 536 
white chrome leather, 40, 41 
Flesh, blue, receipts for, 55, 56 

-finished chrome sheepskins, 120- 

122 
yellow, receipts for, 55 
Fleshers, sheepskin, 143-147 
Fleshing oil, 410 
Flour paste, 90 

treatment of white chrome leather 
with, 40 
Foederer, Kobert, probably the inventor 

of emulsified fat liquor, 395 
Formic acid, drenching and pickling 
sheepskins with, 122, 123 
in leather manufacture, 411- 
413 
aldehyde, tanning and plumping 

leather with, 541-545 
and lactic acids, bating with, 262, 
263 
mixture of, 122 
Francis, Loftus Harley, patent of, 508, 

509 
Fur rugs, white, cleaning of, 477, 478 

skins, borax for soaking, 435 
Furniture, leather for, 513-516 

Spanish leather for, 162, 153 
Furs, alum-tanned, oiling of, 355 
chrome-tanned, 362-356 
cleaning of, 356, 357 
deodorizing of, 356 
greasy, washing of, 351, 352 
process of liming. 674-576 
tanning of. 349-361 
Fustic mordant, 22, 197, 198, 278 

GAMBIER, advantages of palmetto 
extract over, 436 



50 



INDEX. 



Gambler alum and salt tannage for deer- 
skins, 449 
tanning furs and hair 
skins with, 351 
and fustic mordant, 196 

sumac, retanning with, 48—50. 
367, 368 
blackberry roots and witch hazel, 

tanning witli, 510 
mordant, 22, 196, 277 
sumac and oak extract, tanning 

with, 868, 369 
tannage for calfskin upper leather, 

219-221 
tanning with, 47 

woolskins vvitii. 172 
Glazed and bright boarded finish, 33 
finish, 32 

for kangaroo leather, 319, 320 
on calfNkin leather, 209 
receipts for. 287-289 
seasoning for, 210 
Glazing liquors, 119 

preventing pleating of light skins 
during, 486, 487 
Glove leather, calfskin, 212-216 
chrome side, 35-37 
dyes for, 112, 113 
mocha castor, 292, 293 
process for, 529-531 
sheepskin, finishing of, 119 
tan shades on, 214, 215 
yellow, 114 

shades on, 215, 216 
Gloves, sheepskin fleshers for, 146, 147 
Glucose, glycerine, steam and saccha- 
rine substances, chrome tanning 
with, 546-550 
sulphur and yeast, bating with, 
587, 588 
Goatskin leather, manufacture of, 257 
most essential qualities of, 

268 
white, processes for, 290- 
292 
Goatskins, bating of, 259-263 

of with dermiforma, 423 
China, dyeing black of, 421. 422 
chrome-tanned, processes of color- 
ing, 275-282 
clearing the grain of, of grease, 

278. 279. 28T 
colored and black, fat liquors for, 

282-285 
coloring of, with sulfamine dyes. 

417 
drenching of, with lactic acid, 418 
dull finish on, 289, 290 



! Goatskins, dyeing of, black, 273-275 
j with natural dyestuffs, 

I 279, 280 

gambier tannage for, 219-221 
liming of, 257-259 
i mocha castor glove leather from, 

j 292, 293 

mordants for, 277, 278 
oiling, drying and staking of, 285- 
i 287 

patented process of tanning, 269, 

270 
preparation of, for coloring, 276, 
277 
tanning, 387 
process of tanning, 265-272 
seasonings for glazed finish, 287- 

289 
soaking and softening of, 257-293 
tanning of, with gambier, sumac 
and oak extract, 368, 369 
Gold dust washing powder and acid, 

bleaching with, 334, 335 
Goldsmith, Bvron B. , patent of, 535, 

536 
Golf sticks, leather for handles of, 545 
Goodyear welting, manufacture of, 70- 

72 
Goodyears, finishing splits into, 91, 92 
Grading and classification of calfskins, 

450, 451 
Grain, clearing the, 32 

with alum and salt. 50 
tartar emetic, 198 
crushed Levant, 251 
dark green spots on the, 388 
dyeing leather black, upon the, 

229-231 
finish, coloring for, 35, 36 
greasy, 334 

leather, bright-boarded, finish for, 
56, 57 
coloring of, 52 
finishing of, 51, 52 
process of making from splits, 

427, 428 
white, cleaning of, 401 
of goatskins, clearing the, of grease. 

287 
on book-binding leather, 250, 251 
pricked and pitted, 2, 3 
Grains, acid pickled, chrome tanning 
of, 14-16 
alumina-pickled, chrome tanning 

of, 16 
boarded, 251, 252 

bright printed or boarded, fat- 
liquor for, 55 



INDEX. 



597 



Grains, drenches for. 164, 165 

imperfect, finishing of, into patent 

tipping, 69, 70 
of chrome, oils for, 409, 410 

split hides, palmetto extract for 
tanning, 439 
retanning of, 17 
Grease, pressing the, from pickled 
sheepskins, 99 
spots, removal of, from leather, 
401 , 482 
Green on chrome sheep, 113 

-salted calfskins, soaking of, 179, 
180 
hides, soaking of, 1-3 
Gun-metal finish, 34, 211 
Gut, blind, leather from the, 507, 508, 
521-527 

HAIR, oflSce of a material used to re- 
move, 385 
sulphide of sodium for removing, 
385-388 
Hairskins. alum-tanned, oiling of, 355 
chrome-tanned, 352-355 
deodorizing of, 356 
greasy, washing of, 351, 352 
tanning of, 349-361 
Handle grips, leather for, 545 
Hard water, how to soften, 474 
Harness blacking, 473, 500 

leather, bleaching of, 330-332 
hardening of, 479 
hemlock-tanned, bleaching the 

flesh of, 481 
mill-stuffed, bleaching of, 347, 
348 
pads, leather for, 528, 529 
Hemlock and quebracho extracts, tan- 
ning with, 44, 45 
leather, oak stain for, 473 
tannage for sheepskins, 147-149 
-tanned harness leather, bleaching 
the flesh of, 481 
skins, bleaching of, 238 
sole leather, bleaching of, 343, 
344 
Hersey, G. W., patent of, 532 
Hide cellars, whitewash for, 483 
Hides and skins, dry treatment of, 
383 
dongola liquor for, 431 

or combination process for, 
433, 434 
dr}', soaking of, 3. 4 

softening of, 384, 385 
for belt and strap leathers, treat- 
ment of, 304 



Hides for chrome harness leather, hand- 
ling of, 299, 300 
side patent leather, 41 

leather, 294 
sole leather, 294 
coats, robes, etc., tanning of, 

357, 358 
welting, 70 
green -salted, soaking of, 1-3 
how to prepare, for tanning into 

lace leather, 72-75 
partially tanned, treatment of, 358 
prevention of decay in, 384 
removal of hair from, 385, 386 
sodium sulphide process for, 6, 7 
split, pickling of, 11, 12 
sun-dried, un hairing of, 3, 4 
with the hair on, alum and salt pro- 
cess for, 358, 360 
softening and clean- 
of, 360 
Hitt, J. W., patent of, 539 
Holmes, H. , patent of, 570 
Horse collars, leather for, 528, 529 
Horsehides, drenching of, with lactic 

acid, 418 
Hvdrogen dioxide, reducing with, 560, 

561 
Hyposulphite of soda, acid and salt, 

bating with, 584 
Hyposulphites, bleaching with, 335 
preparation of, 335 

I NDIA-TANNEDkips, chrome leather 

-1- from, 253-255 

patent leather 

from, 255, 256 

ooze leather, finishing of, 

252, 253 
skins, coloring and finish- 
ing of, 241-257 
preparation of, for col- 
oring and finish- 
ing, 241-246 
Indian tannage for deerskins, 449 
Ink ribbons, leather for, 524-527 
Innersoling, retanning rough splits for, 

87 
International Sulphide Process Co., 

patents of, 574 
Intestinal leather, manufacture of, 524- 
527 
tube, outside, leather from the, 507, 
508 
Iron liquor, preparation of, 274, 275 
stains, removal of, from leather, 
411,412 
Ivory soap fat-liquor, 479 



598 



INDEX. 



JACKET leather, sheepskins for, 124, 
125 
Jettmar, Jos., fat-liquor recommended 
by, 496 
on bating with dog dung, 
425, 426 
Johnson, Anthony T., patent of, 545 

KANGAROO, imitation, stuflBng for, 
54 
leather, blacking for, 500 

blue or black flesh on . 325 
chrome-tanned, 312-315 
combination-tanned, finish- 
ing of, 322-324 
finishing of, 319, 320 
genuine, manufacture of, 

307 _ 
imitation of, finishing of, 

51,52 
oiling and drying of, 319 
patented method of finish- 
ing, 325, 326 
yellow flesh on, 324, 325 
preparation of side leather or 
skins for blacking and for 
yellow backing, 499, 500 
side leather, bark-tanned, finish- 
ing of, 57, 58 
skins, 307 

dongola tannage for, 323, 324 
dyeing of, 315-317 
fat liquors for, 317-319 
gambler tannage for, 219-221 
vegetable tanned, 320-326 
Kid oil, 410 

skins, mocha castor glove leather 
from, 292, 293 
Kip, black for, 499 
Kromoline S, fat liquoring with, 416 

LACE, belt, and glove leather, process 
for, 529-531 
leather, alum-tanned, 77-82 
fat liquor for, 76 
how to prepare hides for 

tanning into, 72-75 
methods of making, 82, 83 
oiling and finishing of, 76, 77 
old method of making. 79-81 
process for, 529-531, 532 
rawhide, 81,82 
tanning composition for, 80 
of, 72-77 
Laces, belt and shoe, new method for, 

519, 520 
Lactic acid, bating calfskins with, 187 
kangaroo skins with, 311 



Lactic acid, baking with, 7-9, 232, 233 
drenching with. 417-421 
in coloring leather, 491 

plumping and tanning 
leather, 522-524 
and formic acids, mixture of, 122 
Lamb, Charles, on titanium mordants, 
391 
process of coloring chrome 
leather by, 369-371 
Lambskin glove leather, finishing of, 
119 
tanning of, 100-102 
white, buffing of, 129 
Langley, George W. , patent of, 506, 

507 
Lappe, C. E. and H. A., patent of, 325, 

326, 535, 536 
Large seal, 452 

Leather, alum-tanned, coloring of, 137, 
138 
apparatus for bleaching, 328 
bag and case, manufacture of, 62- 
69 
strap and collar, bleaching of, 
330-332 
chrome-tanned kangaroo, 312-315 

wax calf, 216-219 
colored, finish for, 35 

or black, fat liquor for, 27, 28 
to prevent from fading, 498, 
499 
coloring, use of permanganate of 

potash in, 503, 504 
combination-tanned, fat liquor for, 

493, 494 
dampening of, 31, 32 
degreasmg of, 371-374 
dongola, 221, 222 
dressing, waterproof, in paste form, ' 

472 
dull finished, fat liquor for, 29 
dyeing of, black upon the grain, 
229-231 
tartar emetic and antimonine 
in, 466, 467 
effects of bleaching processes on, 

334 
embossed, 163 

for furniture, upholstery, carriages 
and automobiles, 513-516 
handle grips, 545 
horse collars, harness pads, etc., 

528, 529 
organ pipes, 507, 508 
pneumatic tires and other special 
purposes, 504, 505 
furniture, dressing for, 471, 472 



INDEX. 



599 



Leather, genuine kangaroo, manufacture 
of, 307 
goatskin, manufacture of, 257-293 
hardening of, 478, 479 
heavy upper, drenching of, with 

lactic acid, 418, 419 
improvement of, by treatment with 

sumac, 334 
intestinal, manufacture of, 524- 

527 
jacket, sheepskins for, 124, 125 
lace, belt and glove, process for, 

529-531 
lactic acid in coloring, 491 

plumping and tan- 
ning, 522-524 
manufacture, early use of borax in, 
434 
formic acid in, 411-413 
methods of bleaching, 327-348 
mocha castor glove, 292, 293 
nicotin in tanning, 533, 534 
picker, 83-85 
plump, formula for producing, 492, 

493 
pressing of, 48 
removing spiots and stains from, 

400, 401 
retanning of, with gambler and 
sumac, 367, 368 
sumac, 368 
processes for, 48-50 
russet color on, 238-240 

skirting, bleaching, stuffing 
and finishing, 337. 338 
sheep and lambskin, fat liquors for, 

105-107 
sheepskin, manufacture of, 93-178 
soft, fat liquor for, 30 

waterproof, 532 
splitting of, 48 

tanning and plumping of, with for- 
mic aldehyde, 541-545 
coloring and finishing, miscel- 
laneous processes of,^362 
of with gambler, sumac and 
oak extract, 368, 369 
to remove grease spots from, 482 

tannin from, 482 
tough and waterproof, 520, 521 
treatment of, with the waste sul- 
phite liquors of wood-pulp mills, 
534, 535 
Turkey-red oil in tanning and oil- 
ing, 539-541 
upper, liming for, 4-6 
utilizing spent tanning liquors to 
increase the weight of, 510, 511 



Leather, vegetable-tanned, blacking for, 

480, 481 
washing and shaving of, 17, 18 
v.-aterproof, 545, 546 
waterproofing of. 476, 477 
white sheep, 125-130 
work, tanning and dressing seal 

skins for, 466-462 
yellow glove and mitten, 114 
Leathers, calfskin, manufacture of, 179- 
240 
chrome and vegetable-tanned, titan- 
ium mordants on, 388-394 
ooze or swede, 252, 253 
Levant grain seal, 452-455 
Levi, Dr. Lewis, ointment for chrome 

soi'es originated by, 488 
Lime and copperas, depilating with, 
573, 574 
sulphide of sodium, preparing 
calfskins with, 184-186 
splitting out of, 12 
use of patented depilatory crystals 
with, 414 
Liming and bating calfskins, 182-191 
calfskins for glove leather, 212 

russet and fancy leather, 
231, 232 
in arsenic limes, 182, 183 
furs, process of, 574-576 
goatskins, 257-259 
hides for chrome harness leather, 
300 
sole leather, 295, 
296 
picker leather, 83 
kangaroo skins. 308-310 
methods of, 4-7 
new process of, 186 
pigskins, 378 
process, 572, 573 
sealskins, 452. 453 
Linseed oil, 396, 397 
Logwood, acetic acid and nitrate of iron, 
dyeing goatskins with, 273, 274 
and bichromate of potash, dyeing 
goatskins with, 273 
of potash, dyeing with, 204 
copperas, dyeing goatskins with, 
275 
with, 204 
titanium salts, dyeing goatskins 
with, 273 
dyeing with, 203, 
204, 230, 231 
chips, boiling of, 487 
liquor, 484, 485 

for chi-ome harness leather, 303 



6oo 



INDEX. 



Logwood liquors, use of borax in pre- 
paring, 436 

paste, 229 

permanganate of potash, and iron 
liquor, dyeing goatskins with, 
274, 275 

MCCONNELL, JAMES C, patent 
of, 519, 520 
Mackay, Hugh, patent of, 537, 538 
MacMillan, William, patent of, 518 
Magnus, Philip, patent of, 505, 506 
Manure, bating calfskins with, 189-191 

with, 232 
Martin, James L., patent of, 627, 528 
Maumend oil test, 404 
Metallic salts, new process of tanning 
with, 511, 512 
zinc in chrome tanning, 553-555 
Metals, rare, use of for industrial pur- 
poses, 38S, 389 
Mitten leather, calfskin, 212-216 
chrome side, 35-37 
tan shades on, 214, 215 
yellow, 114 

shades on, 215, 216 
Mocha castor glove leather, 292, 293 
Molasses, bating with, 422, 423 
Mordant for aniline dyes, 108 

chrome-tanned sheepskins, 

114 
wine color, 112 
tannin, for sheepskins, 104, 105 
Mordants, 20-22, 23, 24 
for calfskins, 196-198 
colors, 226-228 
goatskins, 277, 278 
object of using, 278 
titanium, 23, 24 
Morocco finish on book-binding leather, 

250, 251 
Muriatic acid, dilute, bating with, 581, 

582 
Murray, Horace M., patent of, 509 

NAPA leather, white, 133-136 
skins, black, coloring of, 136, 1M7 
Naphtha, treating leather with, 372, 

373 
Neatsfoot and cod oils, acid fat-liquors 
of, 363-365 
oil, testing of, 404, 405 
Nicotin in tanning leather, 533, 534 
Nigrosine, blue black with, 492 
Nitrate of soda in sole leather tanning, 

518 
Norris, William N. , patent of, 501- 
503, 504, 553-555 



OAK stains for hemlock leather, 473 
Oakes patented process of bating, 
587,588 
Gil, acid-treated, how to use, 365 
black, 473 

leather, finish for, 34 
spot, removal of, from leather, 400 
tannage for deerskins, 448 
tanning or chamoising, 541 
Oiling alum-tanned furs and hair skins, 
355 
and drying calfskin leather. 208 

kangaroo leather, 319 
chrome leather, 409-411 
drying and staking goatskins, 285- 

287 
lace leather, 76, 77 
Oils for oiling grains of chrome, 409, 
410 
sulphonated. 396, 397 
Oleic acid, 397 

Olive-green on chrome sheep, 113 
One-bath chrome process, 363, 364, 
464. 465, 568 
for calfskins, 191- 

193 
for kangaroo 

leather, 313- 
315 
of tanning goat- 
skins, 270, 271 
tanning liquor, 495, 496 
Ooze leather, dyeing black, without 
logwood, 484 
white, cleaning of, 401 
or suede leathers, 252, 253 
Organ pipes, leather for, 507, 508 
Oxalic acid, bleaching with, 340, 341 
Ox-blood on calfskins, 198-200 

chrome upper leather, 19 
goatskins, 280 
sheepskins. 111 112 
vegelable-tanned sheepskins. 
157, 158 



P 



ALMETTO extract, advantages of, 
over gambier, 436 
characteristics of, 

436 
constitution of, 437, 

438 
preparation of, 437, 

438 _ 
retanning with, 50 
tanning calfskins 
with, 222 
with, 46, 47, 436 
mordant. 21, 197, 278 



INDEX. 



60 1 



Paste for chrome wax calf leather, 218, 

219 
Patent leather, chrome side, 41-44 

drencliins; of, with lactic 

acid, 418, 419 
from India-tanned kips, 255, 

256 
how to keep soft and to re- 
store the gloss, 492 
pyroxylin in finishing var- 
nish for, 535, 536 
Patents, various, relating to tanning 

with specifications, 501-588 
Peach wood-fiistic mordant, 21, 22 
Permanganate of potash, bleaching 
with, 836, 
337 
coloring chrome 
leatherwith, 
501-503 
Persimmon bark, broom weed, garabier 

and alum, tanning with, 527, 528 
Peter, Arnold H., invention of, 581, 

582 
Petroleum oil, 410 
Picker leather, 83-85 
uses of, 83 
Pickle, formula for, 465 

splitting out of, 13, 14 
Pickled skins, treatment of, 521, 522 
Pickling calfskins, 191 

hides for bag and case leather, 64 
chrome harness leather, 
SOI 
side patent leather, 

4], 42 
sole leather, 296, 297 
lace leather, 72, 73 
kangaroo skins, 312 
liquor for skivers, 165 
process, 11,12 
sheepskins, 98, 99 
use of formic acid in, 412 
with acetic acid, 123, 124 
acid and salt, 2d3 
Pierson and Moor, patented process of, 

570, 571 
Pigeon manure, 190, 191 
Pigskin leather, 377 
Pigskins, bating of, 378, 379 
liming of, 378 
tanning of, 379-381 
treatment of, after tanning, 381 
unhairing of, 378 
white, 381-383 
Pilar, A. J., patent of, 555, 556 
Pitted grain, 3 
Pleating, prevention of, 486, 487 



Plumping, use of formic acid in, 413 

Pneumatic tire leather, 504, 505, 506 

Poke root, alum and gambier, tanning 
witli, 512, 513 

Potash soap, 476 
soaps, 398, 399 

Pressing leather, 48 

Pricked grain, 2, 3 

Procter, Prof, fat-liquor recommended 
by, 495 
on titanium mordants, 391 

Puerine, bating with, 2(j3, 310, 311 

Pullman, John and Edward, patent of, 
571, 572._ 574-576 

Pyroxylin in finishing varnish for pat- 
ent leather, 535, 536 

QUEBKACHO and hemlock extracts, 
tanning calfskins 
witli, 223 
palmetto extracts, 
tanning with,45,46 
tannage for calf- 
skins, 222 
extract, dissolving of, 445 
properties of, 444, ^45 
tanning witli, 443-146 
tannage for calfskins. 222 

sheepskins. 149, 150 
-tanned kangaroo, 320-322 
tanning pigskins with, 379, 380 
tree, 444 
Quermos extract mordant, 196, 197 

RACCOON skins, washing of, 351. 352 
Kaw hide lace leather, 81, 82 
Receipts for blue flesh, 55, 56 

clearing the grain of goatskins 

of grease, 287 
coloring calfskins, 198-202 
vegetable-tanned sheep- 
skins, 155-157 
drenches, 164. 165 
dyeing chrome calfskins 
black, 203-205 
side leather 
black, 24-26 
fat-liquors, 53-55 

for black and colored 
chrome calfskins, 
205-208 
chrome side leather, 
26-31 
-tanned sheep and 
lambskins, 105- 
107 
colored and black goat- 
skins, .282-285 



6o2 



INDEX. 



Receipts for fat-liquors, for kangaroo 
skins, 317-319 
vegetable-tanned calf- 
skins, 223-225 
finishes for chrome side 

leather, 33-35 
making sig. 481, 482 
seasonings for glaze-finished 

goatskins, 287-289 
strikers. 230 
yellow flesh, 55 
formulas and miscellaneous infor- 
mation. 471-500 
Recovery of chrome residues, 408, 409 
Red on vegetable-tanned sheepskins, 159 
Reducing with hvdrogen dioxide, 560, 
5()i 
sulphate of iron and acetic 
acid, 362 
Retan liquor. 02 
Retanning. 17 

chrome harness leather, 302. 303 

leather, 402. 403 
degreased sheepskins, 376, 377 
hides with the hair upon them, 

359. 360 
India-tanned skins, 247 
processes. 48-50 
rough splits for innersoling, 87 
shoe-tipping. 61, 62 
skins for chrome wax calf leather, 

216, 217 
with gambler and sumac, 367, 368 
sumac. 59. HO, 368 
Ricinoleic acid. 396 
Rinse liquor, 331, 382 
Roach, William G. . and Albert C, pat- 
ent of, 546-550 
Robes, tanning hides for, 357, 358 
Rohm, Otto, patent of. 586, 587 
Roller leather, 167, 168 
Romans, use of borax by the, 434 
Rosin oils, 399 

Russia leather, coloring of. 52 
fat-liquor for. 51, 52 
finishing of, 51, 52 
preparing the sides for, 59 
Russet and fancy leather calfskins, 231- 
238 
coloring of, 236-238 
fat-liquors for, 234, 

235 
preparation of, for 
coloring, 235, 236 
color on leather, 238-240 
leather, bleaching and finishing of, 
345-347 
colorless dressing for, 346, 347 



Russet leather, finish for, 68, 69 

skirting leather, bleaching, stuflSng 
and finishing, 337, 338 

SADTLER, Samuel P., patent of, 560, 
561 
Salt, alum and gambier, tanning snake 

skins with, 447 
Saw palmetto, 437, 438 
Saxe, Sigmund, patent of, 522-524 
Schlegel, Henry, patent of, 580, 581 
Schultz process of chrome tanning, 551- 

553 
Scouring woolskins, 168, 169 
Scudding seal skins, 457 
Seal skin splits, tanning of, 458, 459 
skins, manufacture of, 452-456 

tanning and dressing of, for leather 
work, 456-462 
small or white coat, 452 
Seals, varieties of, 456 
vSeasoning for black luster. 69 

chrome colored calfskins. 211 
dnllfinish, 117, 210,289,290 
glazed finish, 210 
smooth, dull finish on India- 
tanned skins, 246 
Seasonings for colored sheepskins, 161, 
162 
glazed-finish goatskins, 287- 

289 
sheepskins, formulas for, 
115-117, 118, 119 
Selenium, 388 

Shearlings, coloring of, 174-178 
Sheep and goatskins, India-tanned, uses 
of, 241 
leather, white, 125-130 

chrome-tanned, 130-133 
pelts methods of removing the wool 
from, 93-95 
soaking of, 93 
Sheepskin fat, 376 
fleshers, 143-147 

process for. 146, 147 
glove leather, finishing of, 119 
leather, manufacture of, 93-178 
Sheepskins, bating of, with dermiforma, 
423 
with dog dung, 426 
black glazed, finishing of, 115-117 
chrome-tanned, coloring of, 108-113 
coloring of, after fat- 
liquoring, 114, 115 
dyeing black, 103-105 
clearing the grain of, 115 
colored, dyeing black, 105 
fat liquor for, 151 



INDEX. 



603 



Sheepskins, colored, finishing of, 117-119 
glazed finish on, 119, 120 
seasonings for, 161, 162 
combination tannage for, 150-152 
dampening of, for staking, 115 
dark, greasy, treatment of, KiO 
degreased, retanning of, 376, 377 
degreasing of, 374-876 
drenching and pickling of. with 
formic acid, 122. 123 
of, with lactic acid, 417, 418 
embossed, finish for, 162, 163 
flesh-finished chrome-tanned. 120- 

122 
for jacket leather, 124, 125 

upholstering purposes, 152, 153 
gambler tannage for, 219-221 
hemlock tannage for, 147-149 
liming of, 95 

methods of drenching, 96-99 
pickled, pressing the grease from, 
99 
tanning of, 100-102 
pickling of. 98, 99 
processes of chrome tanning for, 

99-102 
quebracho extract for, 443, 444 

tannage for, 149, 150 
removal of grease from, 371 
seasonings for, 115-117 
sulphide of sodium process for, 95, 

96 
sumac tannage for, 152 
tannin mordant for, 104, 105 
tanning of, with alum, pumac and 
oak bark, 135, 136 
with gambler, sumac and 
oak extract, 368, 369 
vegetable-tanned, 147-153 

coloring of, 153-163 
white, buflSng of, 129 
Shoe dressing, waterproof, 472 

laces, chrome process for, 73-75 
leather, bright blacking varnish for, 
490. 491 
dyes for, 112, 113 
laces, new method for, 519, 520 
polish, high grade, 486 
tipping, patent vegetable-tanned, 
60-62 
Shoes, white, splits for, 461, 462 
Side leather, coloring of. 58-60 

preparation of, for blacking 
and for yellow-backing kang- 
aroo, 499, 500 
processes of chrome tanning 
for, 14-18 
leathers, manufacture of, 1-92 



Sides, unsplit, chrome-tanning of, 16, 17 
Sig, preparation of a, 57, 136 

receipis for making, 181, 482 
Single-bleach formula, 330, 331 
S. K. solution, 269 

Skins and hides, dry, treatment of, 383 
chrome-tanned, coloring of. with sul- 
famine dyes, 417 
coloring of. with sumac 
and aniline dyes, 365- 
:(i7 
degreasing of, ;s71-;>74 
determination of sufficient bating of, 

261 
dongola liquor for, 431 

process for, 432, 433 
hemlock-tanned, bleaching of. 238 
India-tanned, coloring and finishing 

of, 241-257 
kangaroo, 307 
light, preventing pleating of. during 

glazing, 486, 487 
new process of liming. 186 
pickled, treatment of, 521. 522 
preparation of, for blacking and for 
yellow backing kangaroo, 499, 500 
purification of. from gummy matter, 

; 73, 374 
removal of hair from, 386. 3S7 
tanning of, 1 5, 166 
vegetable-tanned, castor oil fat-liquor 
for, 479, 480 
coloring process for, 480 
wallaby, 307 

with the hair on. bleaching of, 483, 
484 
Skirting leather, russet, bleaching, stuf- 
fing and finishing, 337, 338 
Skivers, 163-167 

finishing of, 166, 167 
tanning materials for, 165 
Skunk skins, deodorizing of, 356 
Slunks, 451 
Small seal, 452 

Smith, Joseph W., patent of, 568 
Smooth, dull finish on calfskin leather, 
210.211 
India-tanned skins, 
246 
Snake skins, tanning of, 446, 447 
Soaking and softening kangaroo skins. 
307, 308 
calfskins, 179-181 

for russet and fancy leather, 231 
dry hides, 3, 4 
fur skins, 435 
gi'een-salted hides, 1-3 
hides for chrome harness leather, 299 



6o4 



INDEX. 



SoJiking hides for chrome sole leather, 
294, 295 
process, object of, 1 
seal skins. 456, 457 
sheep pelis. 93 
too long, effect of, 2 
woolskins. li 8, 169 
Soaks, old. danger in use of, 180 

use of borax in, 180 
Soap as an emulsifying agent, 395, 396 
black, 90 
test for, 398. 399 
Soaps. 398, 399 
Soda soap, 398 

Sodium peioxide, bleaching Avitli, 336 
/ sulphide process, 95, 96 
Soft waterpi'oof leather, 532 
Softening iieav>' splits, 87-89 
Sole leather, bleaching of. by hand, 345 
chrome-tanned, 294-306 
coal tar in. 508. 509 
hemlock-tanned, bleaching of, 

343, 344 
preparation of dry hides for. 

387. 388 
rapid process for tanning, 462- 

464 
tanning, nitrate of soda in, 518 
use of palmetto extract in tan- 
ning, 438 
viscolizing of, 476, 477 
weighting of. 537, 538 
Soles, bleaching of. 436 
Southworih, Horatio W. , patent of, 

520. 521 
Spanish leather, preparation of, 152, 

153 
Split hides, pickling of, 11, 12 

linings, finishing operations 

for, 461 
treatment for, 459-461 
Splitting leather, 48 
methods of, 12-14 
seal skins, 457 
Splits, black for, 499 

finish for the back of, 89, 90 
finishing of, into Goodyeai's, chair 

splits'^ etc., 91, 92 
for white shoes, 401, 462 
heavy, .softening and stuflSng of, 

87-89 
process of making grain leather 

from, 427, 428 
retanning of, 17 

with palmetto extract, 
437 
seal skin, tanning of, 458, 459 
tanning and finishing of, 85-90 



Spots, removal of, from leather, 400, 401 

Stains, how to remove from the hands, 

475 

removal of, from leather, 400, 401 

Staking chrome side patent leather, 48, 

44 
Storm-grain leather, finish for, 34, 35 
Strap dressing, waterproof, 472 
leather, 306 

bleaching of, 330-332 
palmetto extract for tanning, 
438, 439 
Striker for table coloring, preparation 
of, 477 
preparation of a, 57 
Strikers, 230 

Stuffing chrome harness leather, 303, 
304 
for alum-tanned hides, 80 

wax splits, 89 
heavy splits, 87-89 
picker leatiier, 85 
russet skirting leather, 337, 338 
Sugar of lead and sulphuric acid, 

bleaching with, 333, 334 
Sulfamine dyes, coloring chrome-tan- 
ned skins with, 417 
Sulphate of alumina and chrome liquor, 
tanning goatskins 
with, 271, 272 
and chrome liquor, tan- 
ning sheepskins with, 
100-102 
and salt pickle, splitting 

out of, 13 
sal soda and chrome 
liquor, tanning goat- 
skins with, 271 
tannage for white goat 

leather. 290, 291 
tanning with, 38, 39 
iron and acetic acid, reduc- 
ing with, 362 
Snlphated oil, 127 

Sulphide of sodium, advantages of the 
use of, 414 
and chalk, depilating 
with, 570 
lime depilating with, 
413, 414 
as a softener, 384 
for removing hair, 385- 

388 
process for hides, 6, 7 
unhairing with, 3, 4 
Sulphite liquors, waste of, from wood- 
pulp mills, treating leather with, 534. 
535 " ' 



INDEX. 



605 



Snlphonated oils, 396, 397 

Sulphur and excrementitious substance, 

bating with, 582, 583 
Sulphuric acid and salts, pickling with, 
11, 12 
pickling sheep- 
skins with, 98, 
99 
amount of, for bleaching, 

330 
Glauber's salt and borax, 
bating with, 583, 584 
Sumac, alum and salt, tanning with, 
517,518 
and aniline dyes, poloring chrome- 
tanned skins with, 365-367 
improvement of leather by treat- 
ment with, 334 
mordant. 197, 226, 227,277 
oak bark and alum, tanning pig- 
skins with, 380. 381 
retanning with. 59, 60, 368 
tannage for deerskins, 448 
sheepskins, 152 
treatment of pigskins with, after 

tanning, 381 
use of, in coloring chrome-tanned 
sheepskins, 108 
Snede or ooze leathers, 252, 253 
S. Z. solution, 269 

TABLE coloring, striker for, 477 
Tan colors 36 
dark, on chrome upper leather, 

. 1^ 
light, on chrome upper leather, 18 

on sheepskins, 108, 109 

woolskins, 175 

shades on calfskins, 202 

on glove and mitten leather, 

214, 215 

goatskins, 279, 280, 281 

Tannage, distillate, 415 

of alum, flour and salt for white 

goat leather, 291 , 292 

sulphate of alumina for white 

goat leather, 290, 291 

test for, 302 

Tannages, vegetable, for calfskin upper 

leather, 219-223 

for calfskins for fancy 

leather, 233, 234 

Tannery, use of borax in the, 434-436 

Tannin mordant for sheepskins, 104, 105 

removing of, from leather, 482 

Tanning, alum and chrome, 566, 567 

and dressing seal skins for leather 

work, 456-462 



Tanning and finishing splits, 85-90 

plumping leather with formic 
aldehyde, 511-545 
bag and case leather. 64-66 
butts for belting leather, 304, 305 
chamois leather, 138-141 
coloring and finishing leather, mis- 
cellaneous processes of, 362 
combination process of, 47, 48 
deerskins, 447-450 
dogskins, 355, 356 
flesh-finished chrome sheepskins, 

120-122 
furs and hair skins, 349-361 
goatskins, process of, 265-272 

with sulphate of alumina and 
chrome liquor, 271, 
272 
of alumina, sal soda 
and chrome liquor, 
271 
Goodyear welting, 70, 71 
hides for chrome harness leather, 
301, 0O2 
side patent leather, 

41,42 
sole leather, 297-299 
robes, coats, etc. , 357, 358 
lace leather, 72-77 
lambskins. 100-102 
liquor, aciditj' of a, 413 

for raw hide lace leather, 81 
liquors, chrome alum, 495-498 

spent, utilization of, to increase 
the weiglit of leather, 510, 
511 
material, alkali and acid, bleach- 
ing with, 341 
mocha castor glove leather, 292, 

293 
nicotin in, 533, 534 
paste, formula for, 350 
picker leather, 84 
pickled sheepskins, 100-102 
pigskins, 379-381 
processes, vegetable for side leather, 

44-50 
roller leather, 167, 168 
seal skin splits, 458, 459 

skins, 454, 455, 458 
sheepskin flesliers, 143-147 

for gloves, bindings, 
etc., 146, 147 
sheepskins for jacket leather, 124, 
125 
into Spanish leather, 152, 153 
with alum, sumac and oak 
bark, 135, 136 



6o6 



INDEX. 



Tanning skivers, 165, 166 
snake skins, 446, 447 
sole leather, rapid process for, 462- 

464 
splitting after, 1 3 
two-hath chrome system of, 213, 

214 
various patents relating to, with 

specifications, 501-588 
white chrome-tanned sheep leather, 
130-i;^3 
Napa leather, 133-136 
sheep leather, 125-130 
with azedarach, gambier, tannic 
acid, alum and oil of cedar, 517 
bark liquor, saltpetre, alum and 

Glauber's salt, 539 
catechu, septfcil, aleppo galls, 
hops and gum Senegal. 506, 507 
chestnut extract, 440-443 
chromic salt, 556-559 
chromium chloride and chrom- 
ium hyposulphite, 555, 556 
cuprous salt, 559, 560 
gambier, 47 

blackberry roots and witch 

hazel, 510 
sumac and oak extract, 368, 
369 
hemlock and quebracho extracts, 

44. 45 
metallic salts, new process of, 

511,512 
palmetto extract. 46, 47, 436 
persimmon bark, broomweed, 

gambier and alum, 527, 528 
poke root, alum and gambier, 

512, 513 
quebracho and palmetto extracts, 
45, 46 
extract, 443-446 
sulphate of alumina, 38, 39 
sumac, alum and salt, 517, 518 
terra japonica, alum, gambier 
and extract of crane's bill, 509 
woolskins, 168-178 
Tanolin, 564-566 

Tartar emetic, clearing the grain and 
setting the color with, 198 
in leather dveing, 466, 467 
use of, 22, 23 
Teas, William H., patent of, 534, 535 
Tennis rackets, leather for handles of, 

545 
Terra japonica, alum, gambier and ex- 
tract of crane's bill, tanning with, 509 
Testing n eats foot oil, 404, 405 
Tipping, patent, finishing imperfect 
grains into, ^69, 79 



Tipping, patent, vegetable tanned, 60-62 
Tire leather, pneumatic, 504, 505, 506 
Titanium, 388. 389 

mordant for colors, 227, 228 
mordants. 23, 24 

on chrome and vegetable- 
tanned leathers. 388-394 
-potassium oxalate, 154,393, 394 
tannate, 390 
Tompkins, James B., patent of, 517 
Trenckmann, Bruno, patent of, 507, 

508, 524-527 
Trimmings of chrome belts, 305, 306 
Tungsten, 388 
Turkey-red oil, 396 

and sal ammoniac, bating 

with, 584-586 
in tanning and oiling 
leather, 539-541 
oils, alum tawing with. 541 
Two-bath chrome process for calfskins, 
193, 194 
for goatskins, 265- 

268 
for kangaroo 
leather, 312, 313 
system of tanning, 21:^, 
214 
process, use of dongola process as 
a, 432 

UNH AIRING pigskins, 378 
sealskins, 453 
Unsplit sides, chrome tanning of, 16, 17 
Upholstering, sheepskins for, 152, 153 
Upholstery, leather for, 513-516 
Upper leather, black for, 499 

chrome coloring of. 18-22 
heavy, coal tar in, 508, 509 
drenching of, with lactic 
acid, 418. 419 
liming for, 4-6 
process for finishing, 536. 

537 
quebracho extract for, 443, 

444 
vegetable -tanned, coloring 
and finishing of, 51-60 

YANADIUM, 388 
V Varnish, finishing, for patent 

leather, pyroxylin in, 535, 536 
Vats, how to clean, 474, 475 
Vegetable tannages for calfskin upper 
leather, 219- 
223 
calfskins for 
fancy leather, 
233, 234 



INDEX. 



607 



Vegetable-tanned calfskins, coloring and 
finishing of, 228-231 
fat liquors for, 223-225 
kangaroo skins, 320-326 
leather, blacking for, 480, 481 
titanium mordants on, 
388-394 
patent shoe tipping, 60-62 
sheepskins, 147-153 

coloring of, 153- 
163 
skins, castor oil fat-liquor 
for. 479, 480 
coloring process for, 480 
practical drum process 
for, 429-431 
upper leather, coloring 
and finishing of, 51-60 
tanning processes for side leather, 
44-50 
Viscol, 476, 477 
Vitellin, 396 

WALLABY skins, 307 
Walrus grain seal, 455, 466 
Ward, William J., patent of, 573, 574 
Warter, A., and Koegel, H. C. , patent 

of, 516 
Washing and shaving, 17, 18 
calfskins, 195, 196 
greasy hair skins, 351, 352 
woolskins, 168, 169 
Water, beneficial effect of borax on, 435 
changing of, in soaking, 2 
effect of, 452 
for dyeing, 281 
hard, softening of, 1 , 474 
-proof finish for bag and case 
leather, 68 
leather dressing in paste form, 472 
-proofing leather, 476, 477 
softening of, with sulphide of 
sodium, 384 
Wax calf, black for, 499 
Weighting sole leather, 537, 538 
Welt leather, hardening of, 478 
Welting, Goodyear, manufacture of, 
70-72 



Welting, hides for, 70 

Whip leather, tanning composition for, 

80 
White chrome leather, 40, 41 

-tanned sheep leather, 130- 
133 
-coat seal, 452 

fur rugs, cleaning of, 477, 478 
goat leather, processes for, 290-292 
grain leather, cleaning of, 401 
lambskins, buffing of, 129 
ooze leather, cleaning of, 401 
Napa leather. 133-136 
pigskins, 381-383 
sheep leather, 125-130 

tanning liquor for, 126 
sheepskins, buffing of, 129 
side leather. 38-41 
Whitewash for hide cellars and beam- 
houses, 483 
Wilson, N., patent of, 583, 584 
Wine color on sheepskins. 111 
Wool, methods of removing the, from 

sheep pelts, 93-95 
Woolskins, bleaching of, 171 
coloring of, 174-178 
degreasing of, 171, 172 
dry, preparation of, with sodium 

sulphide, 386, 387 
scouring of, 168, 169 
soaking of, 168, 169 
tanning of, 168-178 
washing of, 168, 169 
white, paste for, 174 
Wyandotte tanners alkali, 327 
soda, 327 

YELLOW flesh on calfskins, 228,229 
kangaroo leather, 
324, 325 
receipts for, 55 
lace leather, 73 
shade, 36 

shades on glove and mitten 
leather, 215, 216 

ZINC, metallic in chrome tanning, 
553-555 



Oj^TJL3LOC3-TTS 

OF 

piiactical and Scientific Boo^^ 

PUBLISHED BY 

Henry Carey Baird & Co. 



:NCUSTRIAL PUBLISHERS, BOOKSELLERS AND IMPORTERS- 

810 Walnut Street, Philadelphia. 



<i^ Any of the Books comprised in ttis Catalogne will be sent by mail, &e« tf 
postage, to any address in the world, at the publication pricesi 

■•S* A Descriptive Catalogne, 90 pages, 8vo., will be sent free and free of postage 
to any one in any part of the world, who will furnish his address, 

>S* Where not otherwise stated, all of the Books in this Catalogne are bouftd 
in muslin. 



AMATEUR MECHANICS' WORKSHOP: 

A treatise containing plain and concise directions for the manipula- 
tion of Wood and Metals, including Casting, Forging, Brazing, 
Soldering and Carpentry. By the author of the " Lathe and Iti 
Uses." Seventh edition. Illustrated. 8vo. . . . $2,^ 

4NDES.— Animal Fats and Oils: 
Their Practical Production. Purification and Uses ; their PropertieSi 
Falsification and Examination. 62 illustrations. 8vo. . ^4.0® 

ANDES. — Vegetable Fats and Oils: 

Their Practical Preparation, Purification and Employment; their 
Properties, Adulteration and Examination. 94 illustrations. 8va, 

$4.00 

ARLOT. — A Complete Guide for Coach Painters : 

Translated from the French o*" M. Arlot, Coach Painter, fof 
eleven years Foreman of Pain.mg to M. Eherler, Coach Maker, 
Paris. By A. A. Fesquet, Chemist and Engineer. To which ie 
added an Appendix, containing Information ^-eioecting the Materiak 
and the Practice of Coach and Car Painting i...d Varnishing in the 
United States and Great Britain T2mo. . . . igi.25 

(I) 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 



A.RMENGAUD, AMOROUX, AND JOHNSON.— The PractL 
cal Draughtsman's Book of Industrial Design, and Ma-* 
chinist's and Engineer's Drawing Companion : 
Farming a Complete Course of Mechanical Engineering and Archi- 
tectural Drawing. From the French of M. Armengaud the elder, 
Prof, of Design in the Conservatoire of Arts and Industry, Paris, and 
MM. Armengaud the younger, and Amoroux, Civil Engineers. Re- 
written and arranged with additional matter and plates, selections from 
and examples of the most useful and generally employed mechanism 
of the day. By WiLLiAM Johnson, Assoc. Inst. C. E.' Illustrated 
by fifty folio steel plates, and fifty wood-cuts. A new edition, 410 , 
cloth. . ;g6.oo 

ARMSTRONG.— The Construction and Management of Steam 
Boilers : 
By R. Armstrong, C. E. With an Appendix by Robert Mallet, 
C. E., F. R. S. Seventh Edition. Illustrated, i vol. i2mo. .60 

ARROWSMITH.— The Paper-Hanger's Companion: 

Comprising Tools, Pastes, Preparatory Work ; Selection and Hanging 
of Wall -Papers ; Distemper Painting and Cornice-Tinting ; Stencil 
Work ; Replacing Sash-Cord and Broken Window Panes ; and 
Useful Wrinkles and Receipts, By James Arrowsmith. A New, 
Thoroughly Revised, and Much Enlarged Edition. Illustrated by 
25 engravings, 162 pages. (1905) .... i^I.OO 

\SHTON.— The Theory and Practice of the Art of Designing 
Fancy Cotton and W^ooUen Cloths from Sample : 

Giving full instructions for reducing drafts, as well as the methods of 
spooling and making out harness for cross drafts and finding any re- 
quired reed; with calculations and tables of yarn. By Frederic T. 
AsHTON, Designer, West Pittsfield, Mass. With fifty-two illustrations. 
One vol. folio ^S-oo 

ASKINSON. — Perfumes and their Preparation : 

A Comprehensive Treatise on Perfumery, containing Complete 
Directions for Making Handkerchief Perfumes, Smelling-SaltSj 
Sachets, Fuuiigating Pastils; Preparations for the Care of the Skin, 
the Mouth, the Hair; Cosmetics, Hair Dyes, and other Toilet 
Articles. By G.W. AsKiNSON. Translated from the German by IsiDOR 
FuRST. Revised by Charles Rice. 32 Illustrations. 8vo. $3.00 

SRONGNIART. — Coloring and Decoration of Ceramic Ware. 
8vc, . ^2.50 

BAIRD. — The American Cotton Spinner, and Manager's and 
Carder's Guide: 

A Practical Treatise on Cotton Spinning ; giving the Dimensions and 
Speed of Machinery, Draught and Twist Calculations, etc. ; with 
notices of recent Improvements: together with Rules and Examples 
tor making changes in the sizes and numbers of Roving and Yarn. 
Comoiled from the papers of the late Robert H. Bairu. i2mo. 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 



BAKER. — Long-Span Railway Bridges : 

Comprising Investigations of the Comparative Theoretical and 
Practical Advantages of the various Adopted or Proposed Type 
Systems of Construction ; with numerous Formulae and Tables. By 
B. Baker. i2mo $i.oo 

BRAN NT. — A Practical Treatise on Distillation and Rec- 
tification of Alcohol : 
Comprising Raw Materials ; Production of Malt, Preparation of 
Mashes and of Yeast ; Fermentation ; Distillation and Rectification 
and Purification of Alcohol ; Preparation of Alcoholic Liquors, 
Liqueurs, Cordials, Bitters, Fruit-Essences, Vinegar, etc. ; Examina- 
tion of Materials for the Preparation of Malt as well as of the Malt 
itself; Examination of Mashes before and after Fermentation ; Alco- 
holometry, with Numerous Comprehensive Tables ; and an Appendix 
on the Manufacture of Compressed Veast and the Examination of 
Alcohol and Alcoholic Liquors for Fusel Oil and other Impurities. 
By William T. Brannt, Editor of '* The Techno-Chemical Receipt 
Book." Second Edition. Entirely Rewritten. Illustrated by 105 
engravings. 460 pages, 8vo. (Dec. , 1903) . . . $4.00 

BAKR.— A Practical Treatise on the Combustion of Coal : 
Including descriptions of various mechanical devices for the Eco- 

'' nomic Generation of Heat by the Combustion of Fuel, whether solid, 
liquid or gaseous. 8vo. ....... ^2.50 

B ARR.— A Practical Treatise on High Pressure Steam Boilers: 
Including Results of Recent Experimental Tests of Boiler Materials, 
together with a description of Approved Safety Apparatus, Steam 
Pumps, Injectors and Economizers in actual use. By Wm. M. Barr. 
204 Illustrations. 8vo $3-00 

BAUERMAN. — A Treatise on the Metallurgy of Iron : 

Containing Outlines of the History of Iron Manufacture, Methods of 
Assay, and Analysis of Iron Ores, Processes of Manufacture of Iron 
and Steel, etc., etc. By H. Bauerman, F. G. S., Associate of "the 
Royal School of Mines. Fifth Edition, Revised and Enlarged. 
Illustrated with numerous Wood Engravings from Drawings by J. B. 
Jordan. i2mo, ^2.00 

BRANNT. — The Metallic Alloys : A Practical Guide 

For the Manufacture of all kinds of Alloys, Amalgams, and Solders, 
used by Metal- Workers : together with their Chemical and Physical 
Properties and their Application in the Arts and the Industries ; with 
an Appendix on the Coloring of Alloys and the Recovery of Waste 
Metals. By William T. Brannt. 45 Engravings. Third, Re- 
vised, and Enlarged Edition. 570 pages. Svo. . Net, $5.00 

BRANNT. — The Soap Maker's Hand-Book of Materials, Processes 
and Receipts for Every Description of Soap. Illustrated. 8vo. (In 
preparation.) 

BEANS. — A Treatise on Railway Curves and Location of 
Railroads : 
By E. W. Beans, C. E. Illustrated. i2mo. Tucks. . ^1.50 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 



BELL. — Carpentry Made Easy: 

Or, The Science and Art of Framing on a New and Improved 
System. With Specific Instructions for Building Balloon Frames, Barn- 
Frames, Mill Frames, Warehouses, Church Spires, etc. Comprising 
also a System of Bridge Building, with Bills, Estimates of Cost, and 
valuable Tables. Illustrated by forty-four plates, comprising .nearly 
200 figures. By William E. Bell, Architect and Practical iJuilder. 

8vo. . $S.oo 

BEMROSE. — Fret-Cutting and Perforated Carving : 

With fifty-three praciical illusiraiions. By W. Bemrosk, Jr. i vok 
quarto .......... $2.$9' 

BEMROSE.— Manual of Buhl-work and Marquetry: 

With Practical Instructions for Learners, and ninety colorc;d designs 
By W. Bemrose, Jr. i vol. quarto .... ^3.00 

BEMROSE.— Manual of Wood Carving: 

With Practical Illustrations for Learners of the Art, ?.nd Original anrf- 
Selected Designs. By William Bemrose, Jr. With an Intro 
duction by Llewellyn Jewitx, F. S. A., etc With 128 illustra- 
tions, 4to. ....... iS2.5^ 

BERSCH.— Cellulose, Cellulose Products, and Rubber Sub- 
stitutes : 
Comprising the Lreparation of Cellulose, Parchment-Cellulose,. 
Methods of Obtaining: Sugar, Alcohol and Oxalic Acid from Wood- 
Cellulose ; Production of Nitro-Cellulose and Cellulose Esters ;. 
Manufacture of Artificial Silk, Viscose, Celluloid, Rubber Substi- 
tutes, Oil-Rubber, and Faktis. By Dr. Joseph Bersch. Trans- 
lated by William T.Brannt. 41 illustrations. (1904.) ^i-oo 
BILLINGS.— Tobacco : 

Its History, Variety, Culture, Manufacture, Commerce, and Various 
Modes of Use. By E. R. Billings. Illustrated by nearly 200 
engravings. 8vo. ........ ^3 oo- 

BIRD. — -The American Practical Dyers' Comranion : 

Comprising a Description of the Principal Dye- Stuffs and Chemica'^ 
used in Dyeing, their Natures and Uses ; Mordants and How Made ; 
with the best American, English, French and German processes for 
Bleaching and Dyeing Silk, Wool, Cotton, Linen, Flannel, Fell 
Dress Goods, Mixed and Hosiery Yarns, Feathers, Grass, Felt, Fur, 
Wool, and Straw Hats, Jute Yarn, Vegetable Ivory, Mats, Skins^ 
Furs, Leather, etc., etc. By Wood Aniline, and other Processes, 
together with Remarks on Finishing Agents, and instructions in tli" 
Finishing of Fabrics, Substitutes for Indigo, Water-Proofing of 
Materials, Tests and Purification of Water, Manufacture of Aniline 
and other New Dye Wares, Harmonizing Colors, etc., etc. ; embrac- 
ing in all over 800 Receipts for Colors and Shades, accompanied by 
ilo Dyed Samples of Raw Afaterials and Fabrics. By F. J. Bird, 
Practical Dyer, Author of " The Dyers' Hand-Book." 8vo. *55.oo> 



HENRY CAREY BAIRU & CO.'S CATALOGUE 



BLINN.— A Practical Workshop Companion for Tin, Sheet- 
Iron, and Copper-plate Workers : 

Containing Rules Tor describing various kinds of Patterns used by 
Tin, Sheet-Iron and Copper-plate Workers; Practical Geometry; 
Mensuration of Surfaces and Solids ; Tables of the Weights of 
Metals, Lead-pipe, etc.; Tables of Areas and CircumferenceJ 
of Circles; Japan, Varnishes, Lackers, Cements, Comprsitions, etc., 
etc. By Leroy J. Blinn, Master Mechanic. With One Hundred 
and Seventy Illustrations. i2mo. . , . , ^ ^2.50 

BOOTH,— Marble Worker's Manual: 

Containing Practical Inlorniation respecting Marbles in general, theii 
Cutting, Working and Polishing; Veneering of Marble; Mosaics; 
Composition and Use of Artificial Marble, Stuccos, Cements, Receipts' 
Secrets, etc., etc. Translated from the French by M. L. Booth. 
With an y\ppendix concerning American Marbles. i2mo., cloth ;?i.5o 

BRANNT.— A Practical Treatise on Animal and Vegetable 
Fats and Oils -• 

Comprising both Fixed and Volatile Oils, their Physical and Chem- 
ical Properties and Uses, the Manner of Extracting and Refining 
them', and Practical Rules for Testing them ; as well as the Manufac- 
ture of Artificial Butter and Lubricants, etc., with lists of American 
Patents relating to the Extraction, Rendering, Refining, Decomposing, 
and Bleaching of Fats and Oils. By William T. Brannt, Editor 
of the " Techno-Chemical Receipt Book." Second Edition, Revised 
and in a great part Rewritten. Illustrated by 302 Engravings. In 

Two Volumes. 1304 pp. 8vo ;5Sio.oo 

BRANNT.— A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture of Soap 
and Candles : 

Based upon the most Recent Experiences in the Practice and Science ; 

comprising the Chemistry, Raw Materials, Machinery, and Utensils 

and Various Processes of Manufacture, including a great variety of 

formulas. Edited chiefly from the German of Dr. C. Deite, A. 

Engelhardt, Dr. C. Schaedler and others; with additions and list? 

of American Patents relating to these subjects. By Wm. T. Brannt. 

Illustrated by 163 engravings. 677 pages. 8vo. . . ^12.50 

BRANNT —India Rubber, Gutta-Percha and Balata : 

Occurrence, Geographical Distribution, and Cultivation, Obtaining 
and Preparing the Raw Materials, Modes of Working and Utilizing 
them, Including Washing, Maceration, Mixing, Vulcanizing, Rubber 
and Gutta-Percha Compounds, Utilization of Waste, etc. By Will- 
iam T. Brannt. Illustrated. i2mo. (1900.) . . ^3.00 



HENRY CAREY EAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE, 



BRANNT— WAHL.— The Techno-Chemical Receipt Book: 

Containing several thousand Receipts covering the latest, most im- 
portant, and most useful discoveries in Chemical Technology, and 
their Practical Application in the Arts and the Industries. Edited 
chiefly from the German of Drs. Winckler, Eisner, Heintze, Mier- 
zinski, Jacobsen, Roller and Heinzerling, with additions by Wm. T. 
Brannt and Wm. H. Wahl, Ph. D. Illustrated by 78 engravings. 
l2mo. 495 pages. ....... ^2.00 

BROWN. — F"ive Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements : 
Embracing all those which are most important in Dynamics, Hy- 
draulics, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, Steam Engines, Mill and other 
Gearing, Presses, Horology, and Miscellaneous Machinery ; and in- 
cluding many movements never before published, and several of 
which have only recently come into use. By Henry T. Brown. 
l2mo. . . . . ..... ^i.oo 

BUCKMASTER.— The Elements of Mechanical Physics : 
By J. C. BucKMASTER. Illustrated with numerous engravings. 
l2mo. .......... ^I.OO 

9ULLOCK.— The American Cottage Builder : 
A Series of Designs, Plans and Specitications, from ^200 to ^20,000, 
for Homes for the People ; together with Warming, Ventilation, 
Drainage, Painting and Landscape Gardening. By John Bullock, 
Architect and Editor of " The Rudiments of Architecture and 
Building," etc., eic. Illusirated by 75 engravings. 8vo. 

BULLOCK. — The Rudiments of Architecture and Building : 
For the use of Architects, Builders, l^r iU!j;htsmen, Machniists, En- 
gineers and Mechanics. Edited by John Bullock, author of "The 
American Cottage Builder." Illustrated by 250 Engravings. 8vo.i^2.50 

8URGH. — Practical Rules for the Proportions of Modern 
Engines and Boilers for Land and Marine Purposes. 
By N. P. Burgh, Engineer. I2mn. ... ^1.50 

BYLES — Sophisms of Free Trade and Popular Political 

Econ my Examined. 

By a Barrister (Sir John Barnard Byles, Judge of Common 

Pleas). From the Ninth English Edition, as published by the 

Manchester Reciprocity Association. i2mo. . . . ^1.25 

BOWMAN.— The Structure of the Wool Fibre in its Relation 
to the Use of Wool for Technical Purposes: 
Being the substance, with additions, of Five Lectures, delivered at 
the request of the Council, to the members of the Bradford Technical 
College, and the Society of Dyers and Colorists. By F. H. Bow- 
man, D. Sc, F. R. S. E., F. L. S. Illustrated by 32 engravings. 
8vo 00 

BYRNE. — Hand-Book for the Artisan, Mechanic, and Engi- 

neer : 

Comprising the Grinding and Sharpening of Cutting Tools, Abrasive 

Processes, Lapidary Work, Gem and Glass Engraving, Varnishing 

and Lackering, Apparatus, Materials and Processes for Grinding and 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUli. 



Polishing, etc. By Oliver Byrne. Illustrated by 185 wood en- 
gravings. 8vo. ........ $5'Oo 

3YRNE. — Pocket-Book for Railroad and Civil Engineers: 

Containing New, Exact and Concise Methods for Laying out Railroad 
Curves, Switches, Frog Angles and Crossings ; the Staking out of 
work; Levelling; the Calculation of Cuttings: Embankments; Earth- 
work, etc By Oliver Byrne. iSmo., full bound, pocket-book 
form . . . ^1.50 

bYRNE. — Tne Practical Metal-Worker's Assistant : 

Comprising Metallurgic Chemistry; the Arts of Working all Metalj 
and Alloys; Forging of Iron and Steel; Hardening and Tempering; 
Melting and Mixing; Casting and Founding ; Works in Sheet Metal; 
the Processes Dependent on the Ductility of the Metals; Soldering; 
and the most Improved Processes and Tools employed by Metal- 
workers. With the Application of the Art of Electro-Metaliurgy to 
Manufacturing Processes; collected from Original vSources, and from 
the works of Holtzapfifel, Bergeron, Leupold, Plumier, Napier, 
Scoffern, Clay, Fairbairn and others. By Oliver Byrne. A new, 
revised and improved edition, to which is added an Appendix, con- 
taining The Manufacture of Russian Sheet-Iron. By John Percy, 
M. D., F. R. S. The Manufacture of Malleable Iron Castings, and 
Improvements in Bessemer Steel. By A. A. Fesquet, Chemist and 
Engineer. With over Six Hundred Engravings, Illustrating every 
Branch of the Subject. 8vo ^5.00 

BYRNE.— The Practical Model Calculator: 

For the Engineer, Mechanic, Manufacturer of Engine Work, Nava^ 
Archiftect, Miner and Millwright. By Oliver Byrne. 8vo., nearly 
600 pages (Scarce.) 

r \HTNET MAKER'S ALBUM OF FURNITURES 

Comprising a Collection of Designs for various Styles of Furniture. 
Illustrated by Forty-eight Large and Beautifully Engraved Plates, 
Oliiong, 8vo. ........ ^1.50 

CALLINGHAM.— Sign Writing and Glass Embossing: 

A Complete Practical Illustrated Manual of the Art. By James 
Callingham. To which are added Numerous Alphabets and the 
Art of Letter Painting Made Easy. By James C. Badenoch. 258 
pages. i2mo. ........ I1.50 

GAM PIN. —A Practical Treatise on Mechanical Engineering: 
Comprising Metallurgy, Moulding, Casting, Forging, Tools, Work, 
shop Machinery, Mechanical Manipulation, Manufacture of Steam- 
Engines, etc. With an Appendix on the Analysis of Iron and Iron 
Ores. By Fpancis Campin, C. E. To which are added, Observations 
on the Construction of Steam Boilers, and Remarks upon Furnaces 
used for Smoke Prevention ; with a Chapter on Explosions. By R. 
Armstrong, C. E., and John Bourne. (Scarce.) 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 



CAREY. — A Memoir of Henry C. Carey. 
By Dr. Wm. Elder. With a portrait. 8vo., cloth , .75 

CAREY.— The ^A^o^ks of Henry C. Carey : 

Harmony of Interests : Agricultural, Manufacturing and Commer 

cial. 8vo. . . $\.2^ 

Manual of Social Science. Condensed from Carey's " Principles 
of Social Science." By Kate McKean. i vol. l2mo. . ;^2.oo 
Miscellaneous Works. With a Portrait. 2 vols. 8vo. 1 10 00 
Past, Present and Future. 8vo. . . . . . $2.50 

Principles of Social Science. 3 volumes, 8vo. . . ^10.00 
The Slave-Trade, Domestic and Foreign; Why it Exists, and 
How it may be Extinguished (1853). 8vo. . . . ;^2.00 

The Unity of Law : As Exhibited in the Relations of Physical, 
Social, Mental and Moral Science (1872). 8vo. . . ^2.50 

CLARK. — Tramways, their Construction and Working : 

Embracing a Comprehensive History of the System. With an ex 
haustive analysis of the various modes of traction, including horse- 
power, steam, heated water and compressed air; a description of the 
varieties of Rolling stock, and ample details of cost and working ex- 
penses. By D. KiNNEAR Clark. Illustrated by over 200 wood 
engravings, and thirteen folding plates. I vol. 8vo. . ^5-*^ 

COLBURN.— The Locomotive Engine : 
Including a Description "of its Structure, Rules for Estimating its 
Capabilities, and Practical Observations on its Construction and Man 
agement. By Zerah CoLBURN. Illustrated. i2mo. . $1.00 

20LLENS.— The Eden of Labor ; or, the Christian l^topia. 
By T. Wharton Collens, author of " Humanics," "The Historj 
of Charity," etc. i2mo. Paper cover, ^i. 00; Cloth . $1.25 

COOLEY. — A Complete Practical Treatise on Perfutneiy : 
Being a Hand-book of Perfumes, Cosmetics and other Toilet Article! 
With a Comprehensive Collection of Formulae. By ARNOLD ' 
CoOLEY. i2mo ^1.50 

COOPER.— A Treatise on the use of Belting for t^e TranL 
mission of Power. 
With numerous illustrations of approved and actual methods of ar- 
ranging Main Driving and Quarter Twist Belts, and of Belt Fasten 
ings. Examples and Rules in great number for exhibiting anid cal- 
culating the size and driving power of Belts. Plain, Particular and 
Practical Directions for the Treatment, Care and Manigement o'^ 
Belts. Descriptions of many varieties of Beltings, together with 
chapters on the Transmission of Power by Ropes ; by Iron and 
Wood Frictional Gearing ; on the Strength of Belting Leather ; and 
on the Experimental Investigations of Morin, Briggs, and others. By 
John H. Cooper, M. E. 8vo $ys^ 

CRAIK. — The Practical American Millwright and MUIer. 
By David Craik, Millwright. Illustrated by numerous wooa en 
gravings and two folding plates, 8vo. . . . ■ (Scarce.) 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 



CROSS.— The Cotton Yarn Spinner: 

Showing how the Preparation should be arranged for DifFereni 
Counts of Yarns by a System more uniform than has hitherto been 
practiced; by having a Standard Schedule from which we make ail 
our Changes. By Richard Cross. 122 pp. i2mo. . 75 

CRISTIANI.— A Tech-.ical Treatise on Soap and Candles: 

With a Glance at llie Industry of Fats and Oils. By R. S. Cris- 
TiANi, Chemist. Author of " Perfumery and Kindred Arts." Illus- 
trated by 176 engravings. 581 pages, 8vo. ^Ii^.oo 

COURTNEY.— The Boiler Maker's Assistant in Drawing, 
Templating, and Calculating Boiler Work and Tank 
Work, etc. 
Revised by D. K Clark. 102 ills. Fifth edition. . . 80 
COURTNEY.— The Boiler Maker's Ready Reckoner: 

With Examples of Practical Geometry and Templating. Revised by 
D. K. Clark, C. E. 37 illustrations. Fifth edition. • $l.6o 

DAVIDSON.— A Practical Manual of House Painting, Grain- 
ing, Marbling, and Sign- Writing: 
Containing full informatio'i on the processes of House Painting ir 
Oil and Distemper, the Formation of Letters and Practice of Sign- 
Writing, the Principles of Decorative Art, a Course of Elementary 
Drawing for House Painters, Writers, etc., and a Collection of Useful 
Receipts. With nine colored illustrations of Woods and Marbles, 
and numerous wood engravings. By Ellis A Davidson. i2mo. 

;^2.oo 

DAVIES.— A Treatise on Earthy and Other Minerals and 
Mining: 
By D. C. Davies, F. G. S., Mining Engineer, etc. Illustrated by 
76 Engravings. i2mo , ^5.00 

DAVIES. — A Treatise on MetiUiferous Minerals and Mining: 
By D. C. Davies, F. G. S , Mining Engineer, Examiner of Mines, 
Quarries and Collieries. Illustrated by 148 engravings of Geological 
Formations, Mining Operations and Machinery, drawn from the 
practice of all parts of the world. Fifth Edition, thoroughly Revised 
and much Enlarged by his son, E. Henry Davies. i2mo , 524 
pages . . ^5.00 

DIETERICHS.— A Treatise on Friction, Lubrication, Oils 
and Fats : 
The Manufacture of Lubricating Oils, Paint Oils, and of Grease, and 
the Testing of Oils. By E. F. Dieterichs, Member of the Franklin 
Institute; Member National Association of Stationary Engineers; 
Inventorof Dieterichs' Valve-Oleum Lubricating Oils. l2mo. (1906.) 
A practical book by a practical inan. .... i^l.25 

DAVIS. — A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture of Brick, 

Tiles and Terra-Cotta : 

Including Stiff Clay, Dry Clay, Hand Made, Pressed or Front, aiul 

Roadway Paving Brick, Enamelled Brick, with Glazes and Colw«, 

Fire Brick and Blocks. Silica Brick, Carbon Brick, Glass Pots, »*■ 



lo HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGlJt.. 

torts, Architectural Terra-Cotta, Sewer Pipe, Drain Tile, Glazed and 
Unglazed Roofing Tile, Art Tile, Mosaics, and Imitation of Intarsia 
or Inlaid Surfaces. Comprising every product of Clay employed in 
Architecture, Engineering, and the Blast Furnace. With a Detailed 
Description of the Different Clays employed, the Most Modern 
Machinery, Tools, and Kilns used, and the Processes for Handling, 
Disintegrating, Tempering, and Moulding the Clay into Shape, Dry- 
ing, Setting, and Burning. By Charles Thomas Davis. Third Edi- 
tion. Revised and in great part rewritten. Illustrated by 261 
engravings. 662 pages ....... ^20.00 

DAVIS. — A Treatise on Steam-Boiler Incrustation and Meth- 
ods for Preventing Corrosion and the Formation of Scale: 
By Charles T. Davis. Illustrated by 65 engravings. 8vo. 
DAVIS. —The Manufacture of Paper : 

Being a Description of the various Processes for the Fabrication, 
(Coloring and Finishing of every kind of Paper, I'.icluding the Dif- 
ferent Raw Materials and the Methods for Determining their Values, 
the Tools, Machines and Practical Details connected with an intelli- 
gent and a profitable prosecution of the art, with special reference to 
the best American Practice. To which are added a History of Pa- 
per, complete Lists of Paper-Making Materials, List of American 
Machines, Tools and Processes used in treating the Raw Materials, 
and in Making, Coloring and Finishing Paper. By Charles T. 
Davis. Illustrated by 156 engravings. 608 pages, 8vo. ^6.00 

DAVIS.— The Manufacture of Leather: 

Being a Description of all the Processes for the Tanning and Tawing 
with Bark, Extracts, Chrome and all Modern Tannages in General 
Use, and the Currying, Finishing and Dyeing of Every Kind of Leather; 
Including the Various Raw Materials, the Tools, Machines, and all 
Details of Importance Connected with an Intelligent and Profitable 
Prosecution of the Art, witli Special Reference to the Best .American 
Practice. To which are added Lists of American Patents ( 1884-1897) 
for Materials, Processes, Tools and Machines for Tanning, Currying, 
etc. By Charles Thomas Davis. Second Edition, Revised, and 
in great part Rewritten. Illustrated by 147 engravings and 14 Sam- 
ples of Quebracho Tanned and Aniline Dyed Leathers. 8vo, cloth, 

712 pages. Price ^12.50 

DAWIDOWSKY— BRANNT.— A Practical Treatise on the 

Raw Materials and Fabrication of Glue, Gelatine, Gelatine 

Veneers and Foils, Isinglass, Cements, Pastes, Mucilages, 

etc. : 

Eased upon Actual Experience. By F. Dawidowsky, Technical 

Chemist. Translated from the German, with extensive additions, 

including a description of the most Recent American Processes, by 

William T. Brannt. 2d revised edition, 350 pages. (1905.) 

Price .......... $3.00 

DE GRAFF.— The Geometrical Stair-Builders' Guide: 

Being a Plain Practical System of Hand-Railing, embracing all its 
necessary Details, and Geometrically Illustrated by twenty-two Steel 
Engravings ; together with the use of the most approved principle 
of Practical Geometry By Simon De Graff, Architect (Scaicc. / 



^_JIENRY CAREV BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. ,| 

"^^l^^isi^SI-pA Practical Manual o, Che^i^i 

As applied to the Manufacture of Iron from its Ores, and to Cast Iroa. 
Wrought Iron, and Steel, as found in Commerce. By L L Dk 
KONINCK Dr. Sc, and E. Dietz, Engineer. Edited with Notes, by 
Robert Mallet. F. R. S., F. S. G., M. I. C. E., etc. AmericaJ 
Edition, Edited with Notes and an Appendix on Iron Ores, by A A- 
Fesquet, Chemist and Engineer. i2mo. . . . %i.oo 

DUNCAN.— Practical Surveyor's Guide: 
Containing the necessary information to make any person of coim 
mon capacity, a finished land surveyor without the aid of a teacher 
nt/xi^l'll^'^ P™''^^- Revised. 72 engravings, 2,14pp. I2mo. ^1.50' 
JFt^'^f^ Treatise on the Manufacture and DistiUatioa 
or Alcoholic Liquors : 
Comprising Accurate and Complete Details in Regard to Alcohol 
from Wine, Molasses Beets, Grain, Rice, Potatoes, Sorghum, Aspho 
wLl'"' p'''-'ri''*^*" Distillation and Rectification of BraSdy 
Zk?^'.^"'^^'"',^^^?^ ^^^'"''^^' '''■' the Preparation of aZi 
matic Waters. Volatile Oils or Essences, Sugars, Syrups, Aromatic 
Tmctures Liqueurs, Cordial Wines, Effervetcing Wines ItcolS 
Ageing of Brandy and the improvement of Spirits, with Cc^ioas 
Hirections and Tables for Testing and Reducing Spirituous Liquors. 
etCo etc. Translated and Edited from the French of MM DuPi AiZ 
«5^^^-.^''^^"^^^' ^- D- Illustrated 74c, pp. 8vo. ;Siroo 
OYER AND C0L0R.MAKE;R'S COMPANION • 

Containing upwards of two hundred Receipts for making Colors, on 
the most approved principles, for all the various stvles and fabrics now 
in evistence ; with the Scouring Process, and plain Directions for 
EinHRR^R ^^^i.'""^"*^' ^"d Finishing the Goods. ,2mo. ^i oo 
BIDHERR._.The Techno-Chemical Guide to Distillation: 
A Hand-Book for the Manufacture of Alcohol a,ul Alcoholic LiquorSL 
mcluding the Preparation of Malt and Compressed Yeast. Edited 
from the German of Ed. Eidherr. 
EDWARDS.— A Catechism of the Marine Steam-Engine 
For the use of Engineers, Firemen, and Mechanics. A Pr'acti-aJ 
Work for Practical Men. By Emory Edwards, Mechanical Enei- 
neer. Illustrated by sixty-three Engravings, including examples of 
the most modern Engines. Third edition, thoroughly revised, with 
much additional matter. 12 mo. 414 pages . . ^-^ 00 

^^^^^^S.— Modern American Locomotive Engines 
Their Design, Construction and Management. By Emory Edward& 

Illustrated l2mo ^„ Zl 

;p2.00 

EDWARDS.— The American Steam Engineer: 

Theoretical and Practical, with examples of the late.- and most ap- 
proved American practice in the design and construction of Steam 
Engines and Boilers. For the use of engineers, machinists, boiler- 
w»akers, and engineering students. By Emory Edwards Fully 
Ulustrated, 419 pages. i2mo. ... $200 



12 HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 

EDWARDS. — Modern American Marine Engines, Boiiers, snc 
Screw Propellers, 

Their Design and Construction. Showing the Present Practice ot 
the most Eminent Engineers and Marine Engine Builders in the 
United States. Illustrated by 30 large and elaborate plates. 4to. ^3.00 
EDWARDS.— The Practical Steam Engineer's Guide 

In the Design, Construction, and Management of American Stationary, 
Portable, and Steam Fire- Engines, Steam Pumps, Boilers, Injector^ 
Governors, Indicators, Pistons and Rings, Safety Valves and Steam 
Gauges. For the use of Engineers, Firemen, and Steam Users. B) 
Emory Edwards. Illustrated bj 119 engravings. a2o pages. 

i2mo ^2.00 

EISSLER.— The Metallurgy of Silver : 

A Practical Treatise on the Amalgamation, Roasting, and Lixiviation 
of Silver Ores, including the Assaying, Melting, and Refining of 
Silver Bullion. By M. Eissler. 124 Illustrations. 336 pp. 
i2mo. .......... #4-25 

ELDER. — Conversations on the Principal Subjects of Political 

Economy. 
By Dr. William Elder. 8vo. ... . ;$i2.oo 

ELDER. — Questions of the Day, 

Economic and Social. By Dr. William Elder. 8vo. . ;^3.oo 
ERNI AND BROWN.— Mineralogy Simplified. 

Easy Methods of Identifying Minerals, including Ores, by Means of 
the Blow-pipe, by Flame Reactions, by Humid Chemical Analysis, 
and by Physical Tests. By Henri Erni, A. M., M. D. Fourth Edi- 
tion, revised, re-arranged and with the addition of entirely new matter, 
including Tables for the Determination of Minerals by Chemical and 
Pyrognostic Characters, and by Physical Characters By Amos P. 
Brown, E. M., Ph.D. 464 pp., illustrated by 123 engravings, pocket- 
book form, full flexible morocco, gilt edges . . . ^2.50 
FAIRBAIRN. The Principles of Mechanism and Machinery 

of Transmission : 
Comprising the Principles of Mechanism, Wheels, and Pulleys, 
Strength and Proportion of Shafts, Coupling of Shafts, and Engag- 
ing and Disengaging Gear. By Sir William Fairbairn, Bart. 
C. E. Beautifully illustrated by over 150 wood-cuts. In one 
volume, i2mo. ........ ^2.00 

FLEMIN.G. — Narrow Gauge Railways in America : 

A Sketch of their Rise, Progress, and Success. Valuable Statistics 
as to Grades, Curves, Weight of Rail, Locomotives, Cars, etc. By 

Howard Fleming. Illustrated, 8vo ^i.oo 

FORSYTH.— Book of Designs for Headstones, Mural, and 

other Monuments : 
Containing 78 Designs. By James Forsyth, With an Introduction 
by Charles Boutell, M. A. 4to., cloth . . , $3.50 
FRIEDBERG. Utilization of Bones by Chemical Means; 

especially the Modes of Obtaining Fat, Glue, Manures, 

Phosphorus and Phosphates. 
Illustrated. 8vo. (In preparation. ) 



HiiNRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 13 



« RANKEL— HUTTER.— A Practical Treatise on the Manu* 
facture of Starch, Glucose, Starch-Sugar, and Dextrine- 

Based on the German of Ladislaus Von Wagner, Professor in the 
Royal Technical High School, BudaPest, Hungary and other 
authorities. By Julius Frankel, Graduate of the Polytechnic 
School of Hanover. Edited by Robert Hutter, Chemist, Practical 
Manufacturer of Starch-Sugar. Illustrated by 58 engravings cover 
ing every branch of the subject, including examples of the most 
Recent and Best American Machinery. 8vo., 344 pp. gg qo 

GARDNER.— The Painter's Encyclopaedia: 

Containing Definitions of all Important Words in the Art of Plain 
and Artistic Painting, with Details of Practice in Coach, Carriage 
Railway Car, House, Sign, and Ornamental Painting, includine 
Graining, Marbling, Staining. Varnishing, Polishing, Lettering 
Stenciling, Gilding, Bronzing, etc. By Franklin B. Gardner' 

155 Illustrations. i2mo. 427 pp ^2.oC 

GARDNER. — Everybody's Paint Book : 

A Complete Guide to the Art of Outdoor and Indooi Painting. 38 
illustrations. i2mo, 183 pp ^i.oo 

GEE.— The Jeweller's Assistant in the Art of Working in 
Gold: ^ 

A Practical Treatise foi Masters and Workmen. i2mo. . IS3.00 

GEE.— The Goldsmith's Handbook : 

Containing full instructions for the Alloying and Working of Gold, 
including the Art of Alloying, Melting, Reducing, Coloring, CoL 
lecting, and Refining; the Processes of Manipulation, Recovery of 
Waste; Chemical and Physical Properties of Gold; with a New 
System of Mixing its Alloys ; Solders, Enamels, and other Useful 
Rules and Recipes. By George E. Gee. i2mo. . . ^1.2? 

GEE.— The Silversmith's Handbook : 

Containing full instrLiciions for the Alloying and Working of Silver, 
including the dififeient modes of Refinir- :.nd Melting the Metal; its 
Solders; the Preparation of Imitation Alloys; Methods of Manipula- 
tion ; Prevention of Waste ; Instructions for Improving and Finishing 
the Surface of the Work ; together with other Useful Information and 
Memoranda. By George E. Gee. Illustrated. i2mo. ^1.25 

GOTHIC ALBUM FOR CABINET-MAKERS : 

Designs for Gothic Furniture. Twenty-three plates. Oblong ^1.50 

GRANT. —A Handbook on the Teeth of Gears : 
Their Curves, Properties, and Practical Construction. By George 
B.Grant. Illustrated. Third Edition, enlarged. 8vo. ^i.oo 

GREENWOOD.— Iron and SteeL- 
Vol. I. Iron : Its Sources, Properties, and Manufacture. By Will- 
iam Henry Greenwood. Revised and Re-written by A. Hum- • 
BOLDT Sexton. 255pp. Illustrated i2mo. . . . ^i.oo 
Vol. II. Steel • Its Varieties, Properties, and Manufacture By 
William Henry Greenwood. Revised and Re-written by A. 
Humboldt Sexton. 254pp. Illustrated. i2mo. . . $1.00 



14 HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE: 



GREGORY. — Mathematics for Practical Men : 

Adapted to the Pursuits of Surveyors, Architects, Mechanics, and 
Civil Engineers. By Olinthus Gregory. 8vo., plates $3.00 

GRISWOLD. — Railroad Engineer's Pocket Companion for thi 
Field : 
Comprising Rules for Calculating Deflection Distances and Angles, 
Tangential Distances and Angles, and all Necessary Tables for En 
gineers; also the Art of Levelling from Pie'liminary Survey to the 
Construction of Railroads, intended Expressly for the Young En- 
gineer, together with Numerous Valuable Rules and Examples. By 
W. Griswold. i2mo., tucks ^l-5o 

GRUNER. — Studies of Blast Furnace Phenomena: 

By M. L. Gruner, President of the General Council of Mines u!' 
France, and lately Professor of Metallurgy at the Ecole des Mines 
Translated, with the author's sanction, with an Appendix, by L. D 
B. Gordon, F. R. S. E., F. G. S. 8vo. . . . $250 

Hand-Book of Useful Tables for the Lumberman, Farmet and 
Mechanic : 
Containing Accurate Tables of Logs Reduced to Inch Board Meas. 
ure, Plank, Scantling and Timber Measure; Wages and Rent, by 
Week or Month; Capacity of Granaries, Bins and Cisterns; Land 
Measure, Interest Tables, with Directions for Finding the Interest on 
any sum at 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 per cent., and many other Useful Tables. 
32 mo., boards. Ib6 pages .25 

HASERICK.— The Secrets of the Art of Dyeing Wool, Cottoa 
and Linen, 
Including Bleachitig and Coloring Wool and Cotton Hosiery and 
Random Yarns. A Treatisev based on Economy and Practice. By 
E. C. Haserick. Illustrated by 323 Dyed Patterns of the Yarny 
or Fabrics. 8vo. ........ $S-Oti 

HATS AND FELTING: 

A Practical Treatise on their Manufacture. By a Practical Hattes; 
Illustrated by Drawings of Machinery, etc. 8vo. . . ^i.oo 

HERMANN. — Painting oh Glass and Porcelain, and Enamel 
Painting: 
A Complete Introduction to the Preparation of all the Colors and 
Fluxes Used for Painting on Glass, Porcelain, Enamel, Faience and 
Stoneware, the Color Pastes and Colored Glasses, together with 8 
Minute Description ot the Firing ot Colors and Enamels, on the 
Basis of Personal Practical Experience of the Art up to Date. iS 
illustrations. Second edition, ..... #4.00 

HAUPT.— Street Railway Motors: 

With Descriptions and Cost of Plants and Operation of the Various 
Systems now in Use. ISr'-^ .... ^1-75 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 15 

HAUPT. — A Manual of Engineering Specifications and Con- 
tracts. 
By Lewis M. Haupt, C. E. Illustrated with numerous maps, 

328pp. 8vo . . . ^3 00 

HAUPT.— The Topographer, His Instruments and Methods. 
By Lewis M. Haupt, A. M., C. E, Illustrated with numerous 
plates, maps and engravings. 247 pp. 8vo. . . . ^3.00 
HUGHES. — American Miller and Millwright's Assistant: 

By William Carter Hughes. i2mo. . . . . ^1.50 
HULME. — Worked Examination Questions in Plane Geomet- 
rical Drawing : 
For the Use of Candidates for the Royal Military Academy, Wool- 
wich ; the Royal Military College, Sandhurst ; the Indian Civil En. 
gineering College, Cooper's Hill ; Indian Public Works and Tele- 
graph Departments ; Royal Marine Liyht Infantry; the Oxford and 
Cambridge Local Examinations, etc. By F. Edward Hulme, F. L. 
S., F. S. A., Art-Master Marlborough College. Illustrated by 300 
examples. Small quarto . • . . . . „ ;8i 00 

JER VIS. —Railroad Property: 

A Treatise on the Construction and Management of Railways j 
designed to afford useful knowledge, in the popular style, to the 
holders of this class of property ; as well as Railway Managers, fa- 
cers, and Agents. By John B. Jervis, late Civil Engineer of the 
Hudson River Railroad, Croton Aqueduct, etc. i2mo., cloth ;^l.c;o 
KEENE.— A Hand-Book of Practical Gauging : 
For the Use of Beginners, to which is added a Chapter on Distilla- 
tion, describing the process in operation at the Custom- House for 
ascertaining the Strength of Wines. By James B. Keene, of H. M. 
Customs. Svo. . . . •. . . . . ^I cc 

KELLEY. — Speeches, Addresses, and Letters on Industrial and 
Financial Questions : 
By Hon. William D. Kelley, M. C. 544 pages, Svo. . $2.^0 
KOENIG.— Chemistry Simplified : 

A Course of Lectures on the Non- Metals Based upon the Natural 
Evolution of Chemistry. Designed Primarily for Engineers. By 
George Augustus Koenig, Ph. D., A. M., E. M., Professor of 
Chemistry, Michigan College of Mines, Houghton. Illustrated by 
103 Original Drawings. 449 pp. i2mo., (1906). . ^2.25 

KEMLO.— Watch-Repairer's Hand-Book : 
Being a Complete Guide to the Young Beginner, in Taking Apart 
Putting Together, and Thoroughly Cleaning the English Lever and 
other Foreign Watches, and all American Watches. By F. Kemlo, 
*Vactical Watchmaker. With Illustrations. i2mo. $125 



t6 HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 

KENTISH.— A Treatise on a Box of Instruments, 

And the Slide Rule; with the Theory of Trigonometry and I.oga 
rif.hms, including Practical Geometry, Surveying, Measuring of Tim' 
ber, Cask and Malt Gauging, Heights, and Distances. By Thoma.' 
Kentish. In one volume. i2mo. .... ^i.oo 

KERL.— The Assayer's Manual: 

An Abridged Treatise on the Docimastic Examination of Ores, and 
Furnace and other Artifici .1 Products. By Bruno Kerl, Professor 
in the Royal School of Mines. Translated from the German by 
William T. Brannt. Second American edition, edited with Ex- 
tensive Additions by F. Lynwood Garrison, Mem.ber of the 
American Institute of Mining Engineers, etc. Illustrated by 87 en- 
gravings. 8v<>. (Third Edition in preparation. ) 
KICK. -Flour Manufacture. 
A Treatise on Milling Science and Practice. By Frederick Kick 
Imperial Regierungsrnth, Professor of Meclianical Technology in tht 
impE.rial German Polytechnic Institute, Prague. Translated from 
the Second enlarged and revised edition with supplement by H. H. 
P. PowLES, Assoc. Memb Institution of Civil Engineers. Illustrated 
with 28 Platps, and 167 Wood-cuts. 367 pages. 8vo. . ;^lo,oo 
^NGZETT.—The History, Products, and Processes of the 
Alkali Trade : 
{ncluding the most Recent Improvements. By Charles Thomas 
K r vr.zF/r r Copsiiltin<j Chemist. With 23 illustrations. 8vo. $2.^<^ 
KIRK.— The Cupola Furnace: 

A Practical Treatise on the Construction and Management of Foundry 
Cupolas. By Edward Kirk, Practical Moulder and Melter, Con- 
sulting Expert in Melting. Illustrated by 78 engravings. Second 
Eiiition, revised and enlarged. 450 pages. 8vo. 1903, $3-S^ 

LANDRIN.— A Treatise on Steel: 

Comprising its Theory, Metallurgy, Properties, Practical Working, 
and Use. By M. H. C. Landrin, Jr. From the French, by A. A. 

Fesquet. i2mo (^2.50 

LANGBEIN— A Cctr.plete Treatise on the Electro-Deposi. 
tion of Metals : 
Comprising Electro-Plating and Galvanoplastic Operations, the De- 
position of Metals by the Contact and Immersion Processes, the Color- 
ing of Metals, tlie Methods of Grinding and Polisiiing, as well a? 
Description of the Voltaic Cells, Dynamo-Electric Machines, Ther- 
mopyle?, and oi the Materials and Processes Used in Every Depart- 
ment of the Art. Translated from the Fifth German Edition ot 
Dr. George 1 angbein, Proprietor of a Manufactory for Chemical 
Products, Machines, Apparatus and Utensils for Electro-Platers, and 
of an Electro-Plating Establishment in Leipzig. With Additions by 
William T. Brannt, Editot of ''The Techno-Chemical Receipt 
Book." Sixth Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Illustrated by 163 
Engravings, 8vo , 725 pages (1909) . . . . . jg4 00 

LEHNER. — The Manufacture of Ink: 

Comprising the Raw Materials, and the Preparation of Waiting, 
Copying and Hektograpli Inks, Safety Inks, Ink Extracts and Pow- 
ders, etc. Translated from the German of Sigmund Lehner, with 
additions by William T. Brannt. Illustrated. i2mo. &2Jaa 



•flENRY CAREV BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE 17 



L>ARKIN. — The Practical Brass and Iron Founder's Guide .• 
A Concise Treatise on Brass Founding, Moulding, ihe Metals and 
their Alloys, etc.; to vvnicii are added Recent Improvements in the 
Manufacture of Iron, Steel by the Bessemer Process, etc., etc. Bj 
Tames Larkin, late Conductor of the Brass Foundry Department ii 
Reany, Neafie & Co.'s Penn Works, Philadelphia. New edition, 
revised, with extensive additions. 414 pages. i2mo. . tz.^a 

LEROUX.— A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture of 
Worsteds and Carded Yarns : 
Comprising Practical Mechanics, with Rules and Calculations applied 
to Spinning; Sorting, Cleaning, and Scouring Wools; the Englisk 
and French Methods of Combing, Drawing, and Spinning Worsteds, 
and Manufacturing Carded Yarns. Translated from the French of 
Charles Leroux, Mechanical Engineer and Superintendent of a 
Spinning-Mill, by HoRATio Paine, M. D., and A. A. Fesquet, 
Chemipt and Engineer. Illustrated by twelve large Plates. To which 
is added an Appendix, containing Extracts from the Reports of the 
International Jury, and of the Artisans selected by the Committee 
appointed by the Council of the Society of Arts, London, on Woolei 
and Worsted Machinery and Fabrics, as exhibited in the Paris Uni 
versa] Exposition, 1867. 8vo. ..... ^4.00 

1.EFFEL.— The Construction of Mill-Dams : 

Comprising also the Building of Race and Reservoir Embankments 
and Head-Gates, the Measurement of Streams, Gauging of Watei 
Supply, etc. By James Leffel & Co. Illustrated by 58 engravings 

iY°; ,„ (Scarce.) 

LESLIE.— Complete Cookery: ^ ' 

Directions for Cookery in its Various Branches. By Miss Leslie, 

Sixtieth thoasand. Thoroughly revised, with the addition of New 

Receipts. i2mo. ... . j^i.ro 

LE van.— The Steam Engine and the Indicator: 

Their Origin and Progressive Development; including the Mu^t 
Recent Examples of Steam and Gas Motors, together with the Indi 
cator, its Principles, its Utility, and its Application. By William 
Barnet Le Van. Illustrated by 205 Engravings, chiefly of Indi 
cator-Cards. 469 pp. 8vo. ...... ;^2.oo 

LIEBER. — Assayer's Guide : 
Or, Practical Directions to Assayers, Miners, and Smelters, for the 
Tests and Assays, by Heat and by Wet Processes, for the Ores of a^'l 
t)f_ principal Metals, of Gold and Silver Coins amd Alloys, and of 
Coal, etc. By Oscar M. Lieber. Revised. 283 pp. l2mG. I1.50 

^ockwood's Dictionary of Terms : 

Used in the Practice of Mechanical Engineering, embracing those 
Current in the Drawing Office, Pattern Shop, Foundry, Fitting, Turn- 
ing, Smith's and Boiler Shops, etc., etc., comprising upwards of Six 
Thousand D'^finitions. Edited by a Foreman Pattern Maker, author 
jt " Pattern Making." 417 pp. i2mo. . , . $3:7$ 



l8 HENRY CAREY BAlRD & CO.'S CATALOGUt.. 

LUKIN.— The Lathe and Its Uses: 

Or Instruction in the Art of Turning Wood and Metal. Including 
a Description ot liie Most Modern Appliances for the Ornamentation 
of Plane and Curved Surfaces, an Entirely Novu'l Form of Lathe 
for Eccentric and Rose-Engine Turning; A Lathe and Planing 
Macliine Combined; and Other Valuable Matter Relating to the 
Art. Illustrated by 462 engravings. Seventh edition, 315 pages. 

Svo. #4.25 

HAIN and BROWN. — Questions on Subjects Connected witb 
the Marine Steam-Engine : 
And Examination Papers; with Hints for their Solution. By 
Thomas J. Main, Professor of Mathematics, Royal "^Taval College, 
and Thomas Brown, Chief Engineer, R. N. i2mo., cloth . #1.00 
MAIN and BROWN. — The Indicator and Dynamometer: 
With their Practical Applications to the Steam-Erigine. By THOMAS 
J. Main, M. A. F. R., Ass't S. Professor Royal Naval College, 
Portsmouth, and Thomas Brown, Assoc. Inst. C. E., Chief Engineer 
R. N., attached to the R. N. College. Illustrated. Svo. . 
MAIN and BROWN.— The Marine Steam-Engine. 
By Thomas J. Main, F. R. Ass't S. Mathematical Professor at the 
Royal Naval College, Portsmouth, and Thomas Brown, Assoc. 
Inst. C. E., Chief Engineer R. N. Attached to the Royal Nava! 
College. With numerous illustrations. Svo. 
MAKINS.— A Manual of Metallurgy: 

By George Hogariii Makins. 100 engravings. Second edition 
rewrritten and much enlarged. i2mo., 592 pages 

iiKARTIN.— Screw-Cutting Tables, for the Use of Mechanics) 

Engineers : 
Showing the Proper Arrangement of (Yheels for Cutting the Threads 
of Screws of any Required Pitch; with a Table for Making the Uni 
versal Gas-Pipe Thread and Taps. By W. A. ^TARTIN, Engineer. 
Svo. .......... .50 

WICHELC— Mine Drainage: 

Being a Complete and Practical Treatise on Direct-Acting Unde? 
nrcund Steam Pumping Machinery. With a Description of a lai^e 
■number of the best known Engines, their General Utility and Ihe 
Special Sphere of their Action, the Mode of their Application, and 
their Merits compared with other pumping Machinery. By STEPHEN 
MiCHEi.L. Illustrated by 247 engravings. 8vo., 369 pages. JT250 
MOLESWORTH— Pocket-Book of Useful Formulae and 
Memoranda for Civil and Mechanical Engineers. 
By Guilford L. Molesworth, Member of the Institution of Civil 
Engineers, Chief Resident Engineer of the Ceylon Railway. Full- 
bound in Pocket-book form . . ^ • . . ^I.OO 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALUGUt I9 



HOORE.— The Universal Assistant and (the Complete Wl 
chanic i 
Containing over one million Industrial Facts, Calculations, Receipft, 
Processes, Trades Secrets, Rules, Business Forms, Legal Items, Etc., 
in every occupation, from the Household to the Manufactory. Bj 
R. Moore. Illustrated by 500 Engravings. i2mo. . ^2.50 

MORRIS. — Easy Rules for the M.^asurement of Earthworks; 
By means of the Prismoidal Formula, Jlluscrated with Nuroeroiff 
Wood-Cuts, Problems, and Examples, and cunciudeu by an Exten- 
sive Table for finding the Solidity in cubic yards from Mean Areas, 
The whole being adapted for convenient use by Engineers, Surveyoraj 
Contractors, and others needing Correct Measurements of Earthwork 
By Elwood Morkis, C. E. 8vo. . . . . . $ieQ 

MAUCHLINE.— The Mine Foreman's Hand-Book 

Of Practical and Theoretical Iiformaiion on the Opening, Venti 
iating, and Worlcing of Collieries. Questions and Answers on Prac- 
tical and Theoretical Coal Mining. Designed to Assist Students and 
Others in Passing Examinations for Mine Foremanships. By 
Robert Mauchline. 3d Edition. Thoroughly Revised and En- 
larged by F. Ernest Brackett. 134 engravings, 8vo. 378 pages. 

(^905) . j^3,7j 

NAPIER.— A System of Chemistry Applied to Dyeing. 
By James Napier, F. C. S. A New and Thoroughly Revised Edi 
tion. Completely brought up to the present state of the Science, 
including the Chemistry of Coal Tar'CoLjrs, by A. A. Fesquet, 
Chemist and Engineer. With an Appendix 0.1 Dyeing and CaVicc, 
Pnnting, as shown at the Universal Exposition, Paris, 1867. lUus 
trated. 8vo. 422 pages ....... $2.50 

NEVILLE.— Hydraulic Tables, Coefficients, and FormulfE, to* 
finding the Discharge of Water from Orifices, Notches 
Weirs, Pipes, and Rivers : 
Third Edition, with Addidons, consisting of New Formulse for the 
>ischarge from. Tidal and Flood Sluices and Siphons; general infor 
nation on Rainfall, Catchment-Basins, Drainage, Sewerage, Wa.er 
Supply for Towns and Mill Power Bv John Nevii.lk. C.'^E. M P. 
I. A. ; Fellow of the Royal Geological Society of Ireland. ThicS 

,i,2nio Scarce 

lEW^BERY.— Gleanings frorn Ornamental Art of ever3> 
style : 
Drawn from Examples in the British, South Kensington, Indian, 
Crystal Palace, and other Museums, the Exhibitions of 1S51 and 
1862, and the best English and Foreign worlvs. In a series of 100 
exquisitely drawn Plates, containing many hundred examples. E?f 
Robert Newbery. 410. ...... (Scarce j 

NICHOLLS. -The Theoretical and Practical Boiler^Makerani 
Engineer's Reference Book: 
Containing a variety of Useful Information for Employers of Labor 
P'wemen a-^d Working Boiler-Makers. Iroo, Copper, and Tinsmith* 



20 HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'b CAl'ALOGUE, 



Branghtsmen, Engineers, the General Steam-using Public, and for thft 
Use of Science Schools and Classes. By SAMUEL NICHOLAS. Illu» 
trated by sixteen plaies, i2mo. . . , . , $2.y 

.NICHOLSON.— A Manual of the Art of Bookbinding : 
Containing full insiruciions in the different Branches of Forwarding, 
Gilding, and Finishing. Also, the Art of Marbling Book-edges and 
Paper. By James B. Ntcholson. Illustrated. i2mo., cloth $2.25 

NICOLLS.— The Railway Builder: 
A Hand-Book for Estimating the Probable Cost of American Rail« 
way Construction and Equipment. By WiLMAM J. NiCOLLS, Civil 
Engineer. Illustrated, full bound, pocket-book form . Scarce 

NORMANDY. — The Commercial Handbook of Chemical An» 
alysis : 
Or Practical Instructions for the Determination of the Intrinsic oi 
•Cammercial Value of Substances used in Manufactures, in Trades, 
and in the Arts. By A. Normandy. New Edition, Enlarged, and 
Co a great extent rewritten. By Henry M. Noad, Ph.D., F.R.S., 
thick i2mo. . . . . . . . . . Scarce 

NORRIS. — A Handbook for Locomotive Engineers and Ma 
chinists : 
Comprising the Proportions and Calculations for Constructing Loco 
motives; Manner of Setting Valves; Tables of Squares, Cubes, Areas, 
etc., etc. By Septimus Norris, M. E. New edition. Illustrated, 
I2mo $i.5C 

NfYSTROM. — A New Treatise on Elements of Mechanics: 
Establishing Strict Precision in the Meaning of Dynamical Terms 
accorrpanied with an Ap]Dendix on Duodenal Arithmetic and Me 
trology. By John W. Nystrom, C. E. Illustrated. 8vo. 

NYSTROM. — On Tecbnological Education and the Construc- 
tion of Ships and Screw Propellers : 
For Naval and Marine Engineers, By John W. Nystrom, int. 
Acting Chief Engineer, U. S. N. Second edition, revised, with addi 
tional matter. Illustrated by seven engravings, izmo. . ^1.25 

O'NEILL. — A Dictionary of Dyeing and Calico Printing: 
Containing a brief account of all the Substances and Processes], i 
use in the Art of Dyeing and Printing Textile Fabrics ; with Practi'ci 
Receipts and Scientific Information. By Charles O'Neill, Analj^ 
tical Chemist. To which is added an Essay on Coal Tar Colors ana 
their application to Dyeing and Calico Printing. By A. A. Fesquet, 
Chemist and Engineer. With an appendix on Dyeing and Calico 
Printing, as shown at the Universal Exposition, Paris, 1867- 8vo.^ 

491 pages . . ^2.00 

ORTON. — Underground Treasures-. 

How and Where to Find Them. A Key for the Ready Determination 
at all the Useful Minerals within the United States. By James 
•MuK, A.M., Late Professor of Natural History in Vassar College, 
N. Y ; author of the " Andes and the Amazon," etc. A New Edi- 
tion, with An Appendix on Ore Deposits and Testing Minerals (1901). 
Illustrated $1.50 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 21 

OSBORN.— The Prospector's Field Book and Guide. 

In the Search For and the Easy Determination of Ores and Other 
Useful Minerals. By Prof. H. S. Osborn, LL. D. Illustrated by 66 
Engravings. Seventh Edition. Revised and Enlarged. 379 pages, 
i2mo. (March, I907) #1.50 

DSBORN — A Practical Manual of Minerals, Mines and Min- 
ing : 

Comprising the Physical Properties, Geologic Positions, Local Occur- 
rence and Associations of the Useful Minerals; their Methods of 
Chemical Analysis and Assay ; together with Various Systems of Ex- 
cavating and Timbering, Brick and Masonry Work, during Driving, 
Lining, Bracing and other Operations, etc. By Prof. H. S. Osborn, 
LL. D., Author of '< The Prospector's Field-Book and Guide." 171 
engravings. Second Edition, revised. 8vo. . . . ^.50 
OVERMAN. — Thu Manufacture of Steel : 
Containing the Practice and Principles of Working and Making Steel. 
A Handbook for Blacksmiths and Workers in Steel and Iron, Wagon 
Makers, Die Sinkers, Cutlers, and Manufacturers of Files and Hard- 
ware, of Steel and Iron, and for Men of Science and Art. By 
Frederick Overman, Mining Engineer, Author of the " Manu- 
facture of Iron," etc. A new, enlarged, and revised Edition. By 
A. A. Fesquet, Chemist and Engineer. i2mo. . . ^i-SO 
OVERMAN. — The Moulder's and Founder's Pocket Guide : 
A Treatise on Moulding and Founding in Green-sand, Dry-sand, Loam, 
and Cement; the Moulding of Machine Frames, Mill-gear, Hollow- 
ware. Ornaments, Trinkets, Bells, and Statues; Description of Moulds 
for Iron, Bronze, Brass, and other Metals; Plaster of Paris, Sulphur, 
Wax, etc. ; the Construction of Melting Furnaces, the Melting and 
Founding of Metals ; the Composition of Alloys and their Nature, 
etc., etc. By Frederick Overman, M. E. A new Edition, to 
which is added a Supplement on Statuary and Ornamental Moulding, 
Ordnance, Malleable Iron Castings, etc. By A. A. Fesquet, Chem* 
ist and Engineer. Illustrated by 44 engravings. i2mo. . $2.00 
PAINTER, GILDER, AND VARNISHER'S COMPANION. 
Comprising the Manufacture and Test of Pigments, the Arts of Paint- 
ing, Graining, Marbling, Staining, Sign- writing, Varni.shing, Glass- 
staining, and Gilding on Glass ; together with Coach Painting and 
Varnishing, and the Principles of the Harmony and Contrast of 
Colors. Twenty-seventh Edition, i^evised. Enlarged, and in great 
part Rewritten. By William T. Brannt, Editor of " Varnishes, 
Lacquers, Printing Inks and Sealing Waxes." Illustrated. 395 pp. 

/2mo. . . . , ^1.50 

PALLETT.— The Miller's, Millwright's, and Engineer's Guide. 
' By Henry Pallett. Illustrated. lamo. . . . $2.00 



82 riENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 



PERCY.— The Manufacture of Russian Sh set-Iron. 
By John Percy, M. D., F. R. S. Paper. . . . 25 cts. 

PERKINS.— Gas and Ventilation: 

Practical Treatise on Gas and Ventilation. Illustrated. l2mo. ^1.25 

PERKINS AND STOWE.— A New Guide to the Sheet-iron 
and Boiler Plate Roller : 
Containing a Series of Tables shnwiiiii the Weiglu of Slabs and Piles 
to Produce Boiler Plates, Siid of the Wei<^ht ol Piles and the Sizes of 
Bars to produce Sheet-iron ; the Thickness of the Bar Gauge 
in decimals; the Weight per. foot, and the Thickness on the Bar or 
Wire Gauge of the fractional parts of an inch; the Weight pet 
sheet, and the Thickness on the Wire Gauge of Sheet-iron of various 
dimensions to weigh H2 lbs. per bundle; and the conversion of 
Short Weight into Long Weight, and Long Weight into Short. 

POSSELT. — Recent Improvements in Textile Machinery Re- 
lating to Weaving : 
Giving the Most Modern Points on the Construction of all Kinds 
of Looms, Warpers, Beamers, Slas'iers, Winders, Spoolers, Reeds, 
Temples, Shuttles, Bobbins, Heddles, Hedoile Frames, Pickers, 
Jacquards, Card Stampers^ Etc., Etc. By E. A. Posselt. 410. 
Part I., 6co ills.; Part II., 60c ills. Each part . . . S3.00 
Part III., 615 ills. . $7.50 

POSSELT. — Technology of Textile Design: 

The Most Complete Treatise on the Construction and Application 
of Weaves for all Textile Fabrics and the Analysis of Cloth. By E. 
A. Posselt. 1,500 illustrations. 4to ^5.00 

POSSELT. — Textile Calculations : 

A Guide to Calculations Relating to the Manufacture of all Kinds 
of Yarns and Fabrics, the Analysis of Cloth, Speed, Power and Belt 
Calculations. By E. A. PosSELT. Illustrated. 4to. . ^2.00 

REGNAULT.— Elements of Chemistry: 

By M. V. Regnault. Translated from the French by T. Forrest 
Betton, M. D., and edited, with Notes, by James C. Booth, Melter 
and Refiner U. S. Mint, and William L. Faber, Metallurgist and 
Mining Engineer. Illustrated by nearly 700 wood-engravings. Com- 
prising nearly 1,500 pages. In two volumes, 8vo., cloth . ^6.00 
RICHARDS.— Aluminium : 

Its History, Occurrence, Properties, Metallurgy and Applications, 
including its Alloys. By Joseph W. Richards, A. C, Chemist and 
Practical Metallurgist, Member of the Deutsche Chemische Gesell- 
schaft. Illust. Third edition, enlarged and revised (1895) ■ ^6.00 
felFFAULT, VERGNAUD, and TOUSSAINT.— A Practical 
Treatise on the Manufacture of Colors for Painting : 
Comprising the Origin, Definition, and Classification of Colors; the 
Treatment of the Raw Materials ; the best Formulse and the Newest 
Processes for the Preparation of every description of Pigment, and 
the Necessary Apparatus and Directions for its Use; Dryers; tha 
Testing. Application, and Qualities of Paints, etc., etc. By MM. 
RiFFAULT, Vergnaud, and ToussAiNT. Revmd and Edited b-y M 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. K 



K. Malepeyre. Traniiated from the French, by A. A. FesQQB% 
Chemist and Engineer. Illustrated by Eighty engravings. In one 
vol.. 8vo., 659 pages .....•■ $S''^ 

ROPER. — Catechism for Steam Engineers and Electricians: 
Including the Construction and Management of'iSteam Engines, 
Steam Boilers and Electric Plants. By STEPHEN Roper. Twenty- 
first edition, rewritten and greatly enlarged by E. R. Keller and 
C. W. Pike. 365 pages. Illustrations. i8mo., tucks, gilt. |2.oo 

ROPER. — Engineer's Handy Book: 

Containing Facts, Formulae, Tables and Questions on Power, its 
Generation, Transmission and Measurement; Heat, Fuel, and Steam; 
The Steam Boiler and Accessories ; Steam Engines and their Parts ; 
Steam Engine Indicator; Gas and Gasoline Engines; Materials; 
their Properties and Strength ; Together with a Discussion of the Fun- 
damental Experiments in Electricity, and an Explanation of Dynamos, 
Motors, Batteries, etc., and Rules for Calculating Sizes of Wires. By 
Stephen Roper. ISih edition. Revised and enlarged by E. R, 
Keller, M. E. and C. W. PiKE, B. S. (1899), with numerous illus- 
trations. PoCket-book form. Leather $j-S^ 

ROPER. — Hand-Book of Land and Marine Engines : 
Including the Modelling, Construction, Running, and Management 
of Lanr" and Marine Engines and Boilers. With ilJustrations. 3y 
Stephen Roper, Engineer. Sixth edition. i2mo.,ti'cks, gilt edge. 

ROPER.— Hand-Book of the Locomotive : 

Including the Construction of Engines and Boilers, and the Construc- 
tion, Management, and Running of Locomotives. By Stephen 
Roper. Eleventh edition. i8mo., tucks, gilt edge . ^2.5(1 

ROPER. — Hand-Book of Modern Steam Fire-Engines. 
With illustrations. By Stephen Roper, Engineer. Fourth edition, 
i2mo., tucks, gilt edge ....... ^3-50 

ROPER. — Questions and Answers for Engineers. 

This little book contains all the Questions that Engineers will be 
asked when undergoing an Examination for the purpose of procuring 
Licenses, and they are so plain that any Engineer or Fireman of or 
dinary intelligence may commit them to memory in a short time. By 
Stephen Roper, Engineer. Third edition . . . ^2.00 
ROPER. — Use and Abuse of the Steam Boiler. 

By Stephen Roper, Engineer. Eighth edition, with illustrations. 

l8mo., tucks, gilt edge ^2.oo 

ROSE. — The Complete Practical Machinist : 

Embracing Lnthe Work, Vise Work, Drills and Drillmg, Taps and 
Dies, Hardening and Tempering, the Making and Use of Tools 
Tool Grinding, Marking out Work, Machine Tools, etc. By Joshua 
i;i>->F.. 39' Engravings. Nineteenth Edition, greatly Enlarged with 
New nml Valiial)le Matter. i2mo., 504 pages. . . ^2.50 

ROSE — Mechanical Drawing Self-Taught : 

(comprising Iiisiruciiuns in the .Si*lection and Prej^nrntion of Drawing 
instruments. El m niai\- Tnstr,.ction in Practical Mechanical Draw- 



«4 HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 

ing, together with Examples in Simple Geometry and Elementary 

Mechanism, including Screw Threads, Gear "Wheels, Mechanic^ 

Motions, Engines and Boilers. By Joshua Rose, M. E. Illustrated 

by 330 engravings. 8vo , 313 pages , . . , ^^4.00 

ROSE,— The Slide- Valve Practically Explained: 

Embracing simple and complete Practical Demonstrations of th. 
operation of each element in a Slide-valve Movement, and illustrat- 
ing the effects of Variations in their Proportions by examples care- 
fully selected from the most recent and successful practice. By 
Joshua Rose, M. E. Illustrated by 35 engravings . $t.oo 

ROSS. — The Blowpipe in Chemistry, Mineralogy and Geology: 

Containing all Known Methods of Anhydrous Analysis, many Work- 
ing Examples, and Instructions for Making Apparatus. By Lieut.- 
CoLONEL W. A. Ross, R. A., F. G. S. With 120 Illustrations. 

i2mo . $2.00 

SHAW.— Civil Architecture : 

Being a Complete Theoretical and Practical System of Building, con- 
taining the Fundamental Principles of the Art. By Edward Shaw, 
Architect. To which is added a Treatise on Gothic Architecture, etc. 
By Thomas W. Silloway and George M. Harding, Architects. 
The whole illustrated by 102 quarto plates finely engraved on copper. 
Eleventh edition. 4to. ....... |S6.00 

SKUNK. — A Practical Treatise on Railway Curves and Loca- 
tion, for Young Engineers. 
By W. F. Shunk, C. E. i2mo. full bound pocket-book form ;5S2.0C 

SLATER.— The Manual of Colors and Dye Wares. 

By J. W. Slater. i2mo $3.00 

SLOAN. — American Houses : 

A variety of Original Designs for Rural Buildings. Illustrated by 
26 colored engravings, with descriptive references. By Samuel 
Sloan, Architect. 8vo. ,75 

SLOAN. — Homestead Architecture: 

Containii:g Forty Designs for Villas, Cottages, and Farm-houses, with 
Essays on Style, Construction, Landscape Gardening, Furniture, etc., 
etc. JUastrated by up'vards of 200 engravings. By SAMUEL Sloan, 
Architect. 8vo ^2.5<| 

SLOANE. — Here Experiments m Science. 

By T. O'CoNOR SLCA.NE, E. M., A.M., FI:. O. Illustrated by 91 
engravings. i2mo. ....... ^I.oo 

SMEATON.— Builder's PocktS Companion : 

^ Containing the Elements of Building, Surveying, and Architecture! 
with Practical Rules and Instructions coi:r<ected with the subject. 
By A. C. Smeaton, Civil Engineer, etc. l2mo. 

SMITH.— A Manual of Political Economy. 

By E. Peshine Smith. A New Edition, to which is added a full 
Index. i2mo . . . . , . ^i 25 



irlEMRV CAKEY j3/i.lKu o. ^o'. .t ^. v i . .x^wv^ UE. 25 

•MITH.— Parks and Pleasure -Grounds : 

Or Practical Notes on Country Residences, Villas, Public Parks, and 
Gardens. By Charles H. J. Smith, Landscape Gardener and 
Garden Architect, etc., etc. l2mo. .... $2.00 

SMITH. — The Dyer's Instructor : 

Comprising Practical Instructions in the Art of Dyeing Silk, Cotton, 
Wool, and Worsted, and Woolen Goods; containing nearly 800 
Receipts. To which is added a Treatise on the Art of Padding; an(^ 
I lie Printing of Silk Warps, Skeins, and Handkerchiefs, and thrf 
virions Mordants and Colors for ihe different styles of such work. 
u</ David S.mith, Pattern Dyer. i2mo. . . . ^i.oo 

S VIYTH. — A Rudimentary Treatise on Coal and Coal-Mining. 
By Warrington W. Smyth, M. A., F. R. G., President R. G. S. 
of Cornwall. Fifth edition, revised and corrected. With numer- 
ous illustrations. i2mo. ...... $l«40 

SNIVELY. — Tables for Systematic Qualitative Chemical Anal. 
ysis. 
By John H. Snively, Phr. D. 8vo. .... ;^i.oo 

SNIVELY.— The Elements of Systematic Qualitative v^hemical 
Analysis : 
A Hand-book for Beginners. By John H. Snively, Phr. D. i6mo. 

;^2.oo 

STOKES. — The CabinetMaker and Upholsterer's Companion : 
Comprising the Art of Drawing, as applicable to Cabinet Work; 
Veneering, Inlaying, and Buhl-Wo.rk ; the Art of Dyeing and Stain 
ing Wood, Ivory, Bone, Tortoise-Shell, etc. Directions for Lacker- 
ing, Japanning, and Virpishing; to make French Polish, Glues 
Cements, and Compos'.::^ /is; with numerous Receipts, useful to work 
men generally. Bv Stokes. Illustrated. A New Edition, with 
an Appendix upor ,ench Polishing, Staining, Imitating, Varnishing, 
etc., etc. i2mo ........ $1.2^ 

STRENGTH AND OTHER PROPERTIES OF METALS; 
Reports of Experiments on the Strength and other Properties of 
Metals for Cannon. With a Description of the Machines for Testing 
Metals, and of the Classification of Cannon in service. By Officer? 
of the Ordnance Department, U. S. Army. By authority of the Secre. 
taryofWar. Illustrated by 25 large steel plates. Quarto . ^5.00 

fiULLIVAN. — Protection to Native Industry. 
By Sir Edward Sullivan, Baronei, author of "Ten Chapters oa 
Social Reforms." 8vo. . . . . , . ^SlOO 

SHERRATT.— The Elements of Hand-Railing : 

Simplified and Explained in Concise Problems that are Easily Under- 
stood. The whole illustrated with Thirty-eight Accurate aiid Orirrj. 
nal Plates, Founded on Geometiical Principles, and Showing how to 
Make Rail Wuhout Centre Joints, Making Better Rail of the Same 
Material, with Half the Labor, and Showing How to Lay Out Stairs 
of all Kinds. By R. J. Shekratt. Folio. . . . ^2.50 



a6 HENRY CAREY BAIRo & CO.'S CATALOGUE, 

SYME. — Outlines of an Industrial Science 

By David Syme. i2mo. . . ... ;?2.o<j 

TABLES SHOWING THE WEIGHT OF ROUND, 
SQUARE, AND FLAT BAR IRON, STEEL, ETC., 
By Measurement. Clolh ...... 63 

THALLNER.— Tool-Steel : 

A Concise liandbook on Tool-Steel in General. Its Treatment in 
the Operations of Forging, Annealing, Hardening, Tempering, etc., 
and the Appliances Therefor. By Otto Thallner, Manager ia 
Chief of the Tool-Steel Works, Bismarck hiitte, Germany. From the 
German by William T. BraniNT. llhistrated by 69 engravings. 
194 pages. 8vo. 1962. |2.oo 

TEMPLETON. — The Practical Examinator on Steam and thd 

Steam -Engine: 

With Instructive References relative thereto, arranged for the Use of 

Engineers, Students, and others. By William Templeton, En. 

gineer. i2mo. ........ ;^l.oo 

THAUSING.— The Theory and Practice of the Preparation of 
Malt and the Fabrication of Beer: 
With especial reference to the Vienna Process of Brewing. Elab- 
orated from personal experience by JuLius E. Thausing, Professor 
at the School for Brewers, and at the Agricultural Institute, Modling, 
near Vienna. Translated from the German by William T. Brannt, 
Thoroughly and elaborately edited, with much American matter, and 
according to the latest and most Scientific Practice, by A. SCHWARZ 
and Dr. A. H. Bauer, lllustraieti by 140 Engravings. 8vo., 815 
pages .......... ^10.00 

THOMPSON.— Political Economy. With Especial Reference 
to the Industrial History of Nations : 
By Robert E. Thompson, M. A., Professor of Social Science in the 
University of Pennsylvania. I2mr). .... ^1.50 

THOMSON.— Freight Charges Calculator: 

By Andrew Thomson, Freight Agent. 24mo. . . ^1.25 

TURNER'S (THE) COMPANION: 
Containing Instructions in Concentric, Elliptic, and Eccentric Turn, 
ing; also various Plates of Chucks, Tools, and Instruments; and 
Directions for using the Eccentric Cuttet-, Drill, Vertical Cutter, and 
Circular Rest; with Patterns and Instructions for working them. 
I2mo ^I.OO 

TURNING : Specimens of Fancy Turning Executed on the 

Hand or Foot- Lathe : i 

With Geometric, Oval, and Eccentric Chucks, and Elliptieal Cutting 

Frame. By an Amateur. Illustrated by 30 exquisite Photographs. 

4to. (Scarce.) 



HENRY CAREY BAIRB & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 2j 



VAILE.— Galvanized- Iron Cornice-Woiker's Manual- 

Containing Instructions in Laying out the Difterent Mitres, and 

T?l, "^ r ^i^.^''? ^"^ ^^' ^^""^^ ^f P'ai" ^"d Circular Work. Also 
labjes of Weights, Areas and Circumferences of Circles, and other 
Matter calculated to Benefit the Trade. By Charles A. Vaile. 
Illustrated by twenty-one plates. 4to. , . . .(Scarce.) 
VILLE. — On Artificial Manures : 

Their Chemical Selection and Scientific Application to Agriculture. 
A series of Lectures given at the Experimental Farm at Vincennes' 
during 1867 and 1874-75. By M. Georges Ville. Translated and 
Edited by William Crookes, F. R. S. Illustrated by thirty-one 

engravinos. 8vo., 450 pages ^6,00 

VILLE.— The School of Chemical Manures : 
Or, Elementary Principles in the Use of Fertilizing Agents. From 
the French of M. Geo. Ville, by A. A. Fesquet, Chemist and En- 
gineer. With Illustrations. i2mo. .... $\.2\ 
VOGDES.— The Architect's and Builder's Pocket- Companioii 
and Price-Book : 
Consisting of a Shoit but Comprehensive Epitome of Decimals, Duo- 
decimals, Geometry and Mensuration ; with Tables of United States 
Measures, Sizes, Weights, Strengths, etc., of Iron, Wood, Stone, 
3rick, Cement and Concretes, Quantities of Materials in given Sizes 
and Dimensions of Wood, Brick and Stone; and full and complete 
Bills of Prices for Carpenter's Work and Painting ; also, Rules for 
Computing and Valuing Brick and Brick Work, Stone Work, Paint- 
ing, Plastering, with a Vocabulary of Technical Terms, etc. By 
Frank W. Vogdes, Architect, Indianapolis, Ind. Enlarged, revised, 
and corrected. In one volume, 368 pages, full-bound, pocket-book 

form, gilt edges ^2.oc 

Cloth . . . 1 50 

VAN CLE VE.— The English and American Mechanic : 
Com]3risiiig a Collection of Over Three Thousand Receipts, Rules, 
and Tnbles, designed for the Use of every Mechanic and Manufac- 
turer. By B. Frank Van Cleve. Illustrated; 500 po. i2mo. gz.oc 
VAN DER BURG.— School of Painting for the Imitation of 
Woods and Marbles : 
A Complete, Practical Treatise on the Art and Craft of Graining and 
Marbling with the Tools and Appliances. 36 plates. Folio, 12x20 
inches ^6.00 

WAHNSCHAFFE.— A Guide to the Scientific ExaminatioR 
of Soils : 

Comprising Select Methods of Mechanical and Chemical A .lalysis^ 
and Physical Investigation, Translated from the German of Dr. F, 
Wahnschaffe. With additions by William T, Brannt. Illus- 
trated by 25 engravings. l2mo. 177 pages . . . ;^I.3a 
IVALTON. — Coal-Mining Described and Illustrated : 
By Thomas H. Walton, Mining Engineer. Illustrated by 34 }vsm 
and aiaborate Plates, after ."Actual Workings and Apparata*. ^2.00 



2^ 12ENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOC UE, 

WARE.— The Sugar Beet. 

Including a History of the Beet Sugar Industry in Europe, Varieties 
of the Sugar Beet, Examination, Soils, Tillage, Seeds and Sowing, 
Yield and Cost of Cultivation, Harvesting, Transportation, Conserva 
tion. Feeding Qualities of the Beet and of the Pulp, etc. By Lewi< 
S. Ware, C. E., M. E. Illustrated by ninety engravings. 8vo. 

^3.50 

WARN.— The Sheet-Metal Worker's Instructor: 

P'or Zinc, Sheet-Iron, Copper, and Tin-Plale Workers, etc. Contain« 
ing a selection of Geometrical Problems ; also. Practical and Simple 
Rules for Describing the various Patterns required in the different 
branches of the above Trades. By Reuben H. Warn, Practical 
Tin-Plale Worker. To which is added an Appendix, containing 
Instructions lor Boiler-Making, Mensuration of Surfaces and Solids, 
Rules for Calculating the Weights of different Figures of Iron and 
Steel, Tables of the Weights of Iron, Steel, etc. Illustrated by thirty- 
two Plates and thirty-seven Wood Engravings. 8vo. , ^2.50 

WARNER. — New Theorems, Tables, and Diagrams, for th( 
Computation of Earth-work : 

Designed for the use of Engineers in Preliminary and Final Estimates 
of Students in Engineering, and of Contractors and other non-profes< 
sional Computers. In two parts, with an Appendix. Part I. A Prac- 
tical Treatise; Part II. A Theoretical Treatise, and the Appendix, 
Containing Notes to the Rules and Examples of Part I.; Explana 
tions of the Construction of Scales, Tablc>, and Diagrams, and : 
Treatise upon Equivalent .Square Bases and Equivalent Level Heights 
By John Warner, A. M., Mining and Mechanical Engineer. Illus- 
i -ated by 14 Plates. Svo. ...... J53.00 

WILSON. — Carpentry and Joinery : 

By John Wilson, Lecturer on Building Construction, Carpentry and 
Joinery, etc., in the Manchester Technical School. Third Edition, 
with 65 full-page plates, in flexible cover, oblong. . . (Scarce.) 

WATSON.— A Manual of the Hand-Lathe : 

Comprising Concise Directions for Working Metals of all kinds, 
Ivory, Bone, and Precious Woods ; Dyeing, Coloring, and French 
Polishing ; Inlaying by Veneers, and various methods practised to 
produce Elaborate work with Dispatch, and at Small Expense. By 
Egbert P. Watson, Author of "The Modern Practice of American 
Machinists and Engineers " Illustrated by 78 engravings. ^1.50 

WATSON. — The Modern Practice pf American Machinists 
and Engineers : 

Including the Construction, Application, and Use of Drills, Lathe 
Tools, Cutters for Boring Cylinders, and Hollow- work generally, with 
the most Economical Speed for the same ; the Results verified by 
Actual Practice at the Lathe, the Vise, and on the floor. Togethei 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. ^9 



with Workshop Management, Economy of Manufacture, the Steam 
Engine, Boilers, Gears, Belling, etc., etc. By EGBERT P. W atson, 
Illustra'ed by eiglity-six engravings. l2mo. . . . ^2.50 

WATT.— The Art of Soap Making : 

A Practical Hand-Book of the Manufacture of Hard and Soft Soaps, 
Toilet Soaps, etc. Fifth Edition, Revised, to which is added an 
Appendix on Modern Candle Making. By Alexander Watt. 
111. l2mo $300 

WEATHERLY.— Treatise on the Art of Boiling Sugar, Crys- 
tallizing, Lozenge-making, Comfits, Gum Goods, 
And other processes for Confectionery, including Methods for Manu- 
facturing every Description of Raw and Refined Sugar Goods. A 
New and Enlarged Edition, with an Appendix on Cocoa, Chocolate, 
Chocolate Confections, etc. 196 pages, i2mo. (1903) . #1.50 

WILL. — Tables of Qualitative Chemical Analysis ■ 

With an Introductory Chapter on the Course of r^nalysis. By Pro- 
fessor Heinrich Will, of Giessen, Geimany. Third American, 
from the eleventh German edition. Edited by Charles V. lIiMES, 
Ph. D., Professor of Natural Science, Dickinson College, Carlisle, 
Pa. 8vo $1.50 

WILLIAMS.— On Heat and Steam : 

Embracing New Views of Vaporization, Condensation and Explo- 
sion. By Charles Wye Williams, A. I. C. E. Illustrated. 8vo. 

$2.50 

WILSON — First Principles of Political Economy: 

Witii Reference to Statesmanship and the Progress of Civilization. 
By Professor W. D. WiLSON, of the Cornell University. A new and 
revised edition. i2mo. ...... ^I-S^ 

WILSON. — The Practical Tool-Maker and Designer: 

A Treatise upon the Designing of Tools and Fixtures for Machine 
Tools and Metal Working Machinery, Comprising Modern Examples 
of Machines with Fundamental Designs for Tools for the Actual Pro- 
duction of the work; Together with Special Reference to a Set of 
Tools for Machining the Various Parts of a Bicycle. Illustrated by 
189 engravings. 1898. ^2.50 

CONTENTS : Introductory. Chapter I. Modern Tool Room and Equipment. ■ 
II. Files, Their Use and Abuse. III. Steel and Tempering. IV. Making- Jigs. 
V. Milling Machine Fixtures. VI. Tools and Fixtures for Screw INIachines. VII. 
Broaching. VIII. Punches and Dies for Cutting and Drop Press. IX. Tools for 
Hollow-Ware. X. Embossing: Metal, Coin, and Stamped Sheet-Metal Orna- 
ments. XI. Drop Forging. XII. Solid Drawn Shells or Ferrules ; Cupping or 
Cutting, and Drawing ; Breaking Down Shells.. XIII. Annealing, Pickling, and 
Cleaning, XIV. Tools for Draw Bench. XV. Cutting and Assembling Pieces 
by Means of Ratchet Dial Plates at One Operation. XVI. The Header. XVIT. 
Tools for Fox Lathe. XVIII. Suggestions for a Set of Tools for Machining the 
Various Parts of a Bicycle. XIX. The Plater's Dynamo. XX. Conclusion — 
With a Few Random Ideas. Appendix. Index. 

WOODS — Compound Locomotives : 

By Arthur Tannatt Woods. Second edition, revised and enlarged 
by David Leonard Barnes, A. M., C. E. 8vo. 330 pp. ^3.00 



30 HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 

WOHLER. — A Hand-Bookof Mineral Analysis: 

By F. WoHLER, Professor of Chemistry in the University of Gottin- 
gen. Edited by Henry B. Nason, Professor of Chemistry in the 
Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York. Illustrated. 
i2mo. ^2.50 

WORSSAM.— On Mechanical Saws : 

From the Transactions of the Society of Engineers, 1869. By S. W. 
WoRSSAM, Jr. Illustrated by eighteen large plates. 8vo. $l-S° 

RECENT ADDITIONS. 

BRANNT. — Varnishes, Lacquers, Printing Inks and Sealing - 
Waxes: 

Their Raw Materials and their Manufacture, to which is added the 
Art of Varnishing and Lacquering, including the Preparation of Put- 
ties and of Stains for Wood, Ivory, Bone, Horn, and Leather. By 
William T. Brannt. Illustrated by 39 Engravings, 338 pages. 
i2mo ^3.00 

BRANNT. — The Practical Dry Cleaner, Scourer, and Gar- 
ment Dyer : 
Comprising Dry or Chemical Cleaning; Purification of Benzine; Re- 
moving Stains or Spotting; Wet Cleaning; Finishing Cleaned Fabrics; 
Cleaning and Dyeing Furs, Skins, Rugs, and Mats; Cleaning and 
Dyeing Feathers ; Bleaching and Dyeing Straw Hats ; Cleaning and 
Dyeing Gloves; Garment Dyeing; Stripping; Analysis of Textile 
Fabrics. Edited by William T. Brannt, Editor of "The Techno- 
Chemical Receipt Book." Third Edition, Revised and Enlarged. 
Illustrated by Twenty-Three Engravings ^2 50 

BRANNT.— Petroleum , 
its History, Origin, Occurrence, Production, Physical and Chemical 
Constitution, Technology, Examination and Uses; Together with 
the Occurrenee and Uses of Natural Gas. Edited chiefly from the 
German of Prof. Hans Hoefer and Dr. Alexander Veith, by Wm. 
T. Brannt. Illustrated by 3 Plates and 284 Engravings. 743 pp. 
8vo. ^8.50 

BRANNT. — A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture of Vine- 
gar and Acetates, Cider, and Fruit-Wines : 
Preservation of Fruits and Vegetables by Canning and Evaporation; 
Preparation of Fruit-Butters, JeUies, Marmalades, Catchups, Pickles, 
Mustards, etc. Edited from various sources. By WILLIAM T. 
Brannt. Illustrated by 79 Engravings. 479 pp. 8vo, ,^S-oo 

BRANNT.— The Metal Worker's Handy-Book of Receipts 
and Processes : 

Being a Collection of Chemical Formulas and Practical Manipula- 
tions for the working of all Metals ; including the Decoration and 
Beautifying of Articles Manufactured therefrom, as well as their 
Preservation. Edited from various sources. By WiLLlAM T. 
Brannt. Illustrated. lamo. $2.50 



HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 31 

DEITE. — A Practical Treatise on the Manufacture of Per- 
fumery : 

Comprising directions for making all Kinds of Perfumes, Sachet 
Powders, Fumigating Materials, Dentifrices, Cosmetics, etc., with a 
full account of the Volatile Oils, Balsams, Resins, and other Natural 
and Artificial Perfume-substances, including the Manufacture of 
Fruit Ethers, and tests of their purity. By Dr. C. Deite. assisted 
by L. BoRCHERT, F. Eichbaum, E. Kugler, H. Toeffner, and 
other experts. From the German, by Wm. T. Brannt. 28 Engrav 
ings. 358 pages. Svo. . . . . . . ^3 00 

EDWARDS. — American Marine Engineer, Theoretical and 
Practical : 

With Examples of the latest and most approved American Practice. 
By Emory Edwards. 85 illustrations. lamo. . . ^2.00 

EDWARDS. — 900 Examination Questions and Answers: 

For Engineers and Firemen (Land and Marine) who desire to ob- 
tain a United States Government or State License. Pocket-book 
form, gilt edge . . . . . . . . $i-5'^ 

FLEMMING. — Practical Tanning: 

A Handbook of Modern Processes, Receipts, and Suggestions for the 
Treatment of Hides, Skins, and Pelts of Every Description. By 
Lewis A. Flemming. American Tanner. 472 pp. Svo. (1903) ^4.00. 

POSSELT. — The Jacquard Machine Analysed and Explained; 

With an Appendix on the Preparation of Jacquard Cards, and 
Practical Hints to Learners of Jacquard Designing. By E. A. 
PossELT. With 230 illustrations and numerous diagrams. 127 pp. 

4to ^300 

POSSELT. — Recent Improvements in Textile Machinery, 
Part III : 
Processes Required for Converting Wool, Cotton, Silk, from Fibre 
to Finished Fabric, Covering both Woven and Knit Goods ; Con- 
struction of the most Modern Improvements in Preparatory Machin- 
ery, Carding, Combing, Drawing, and Spinning Machinery, Winding, 
Warping, Slashing Machinery Looms, Machinery for Knit Goods, 
Dye Stuffs, Chemicals, Soaps, Latest Improved Accessories Relat- 
ing to Construction and Equipment of Modern Textile IManufactur- 
ing Plants. By E. A. Possf.lt. Complete]- Illustrated. 4to. 

$7-50 
RICH. — Artistic Horse-Shoeing : 

A Practical and Scientific Treatise, giving Improved Methods of 
Shoeing, with Special Directions foi Shaping Shoes to Cure Different 
Diseases of the Foot, and for the Correction of Faulty Action in 
Trotters. By George E. "tm '62 Illnsii.itions. 153 patres 
femo ... . . ■ 2.00 



32 HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO.'S CATALOGUE. 



RICHARDSON. —Practical Blacksmithing : 

A Collection of Articles Contributed at Different Times by Skilled 
Workmen to the columns of " The Blacksmith arid Wheelwright," 
and Covering nearly the Whole Range of Blacksmithing, from the 
Simplest Job of Work to some of the Most Complex Forgings. 
Compiled and Edited by M. T. Richardson. 

Vol.1. 2IO Illustrations. 224 pages. l2mo. . . $1.00 

Vol. II. 230 Illustrations. 262 pages. I2mo. . . |Sl.oo 
Vol. III. 390 Illustrations, 307 pages. i2mo, . , ^i.oo 
Vol. IV. 226 Illustrations. 276 pages. I2mo, , , |>i.oo 

RICHARDSON.— The Practical Horseshoer: 
Being a Collection of Articles on Horseshoeing in all its Branchess 
which have appeared from time to time in the columns of " 1 he 
Blacksmith and Wheelwright," etc. Compiled and edited by M. T. 
Richardson. 174 illustrations. . . . . . ^i.oo 

ROPER. — Instructions and Suggestions for Engineers and 

Firemen : 
By Stephen Roper, Engineer. i8mo. Morocco . ;^2.oo 

ROPER.— The Steam Boiler: Its Care and Management: 
By Stephen Roper, Engineer. i2mo., tuck, gilt edges. ;^2.oo 

ROPER. — The Young Engineer's Own Book: 

Containing an Explanation of the Principle and Theories on which 
the Steam Engine as a Prime Mover is Based. By Stephen Roper, 
Engineer. 160 illustrations, 363 pages. l8mo., tuck . ^52-50 

ROSE. — Modern Steam -Engines: 
An Elementary Treatise upon the Steam-Engine, written in Plain 
language ; for Use in the Workshop as well as in the Drawing Office. 
Giving Full Explanations of the Construction of Modern Steam. 
Engines : Including Diagrams showing their Actual operation. To- 
gether with Complete but Simple Explanations of the operations of 
Various Kinds of Valves, Valve Motions, and Link Motions, etc., 
thereby Enabling the Ordinary Engineer to clearly Understand the 
Principles Involved in their Construction and Use, and to Plot out 
their Movements upon the Drawing Board. By Joshua Rose. M. E. 
Dlustrated by 422 engravings. Revised. 358 pp. . . ;^6.oo 

ROSE.— Steam Boilers: 
A Practical Treatise on Boiler Construction and Examfnation, for the 
Use of Practical Boiler Makers, Boiler Users, and Inspectors; and 
embracing in plain figures all the calculations necessary in Designing 
or Classifying Steam Boilers. By Joshua Rose, M. E. Illustrated 
by 73 engravings. 250 pages. 8vo ^2.150 

SCHRIBER.— The Complete Carriage and Wagon Painter: 
A Concise Compendium of the Art of Painting Carriages, Wagons, 
and Sleighs, embracing Full Directions m all the Various Branches, 
including Lettering, Scrolhng, Ornamenting, Striping, Varnishing, 
and Coloring, with numerous Recipes for Mixing Colors. 73 Illus- 
brations. 177 pp. i2mo. . . , . - . jfioc 



0^ 




■%^ 







\^ 



o>' 



\^ 



*&.« 












/:' 



^' 



\ ^^' 









. V I 







.0 
















9 1 T "* 






X- * 



C^^' 







;l -Y, 







c*-^ 



A , V 1 » 




'^■%', '^^ .-j^" -:^d?^'^^^ 



